Adventist HealthCare will open a new radiation oncology center in Germantown next year.
The $5.5 million, 6,500-square-foot facility is expected to open in early 2011 in the Seneca Meadows Corporate Center, said Dennis Hansen, president of Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville. The center eventually will occupy 10,500 square feet of office space.
Radiation oncology is a radiation treatment that damages the DNA of cancer cells and prevents them from growing and dividing by using high-powered X-rays or radioactive seed implants, said Jennifer Plaia, a spokeswoman for Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. Treatment can last six weeks, she said, and about 60 percent of Adventist’s radiation patients live north of Rockville.
“For those who find themselves in need of cancer treatment, they often need weeks of treatment,” Hansen said. “It’s a service you need on a daily basis, so convenience is especially important.”
Radiation therapy is used to treat a variety of types of the disease, including breast, prostate and lung cancer, Plaia said. More than 60 percent of cancer patients are treated by radiation oncologists.
The radiation oncology center will be about two miles from the Shady Grove Adventist Emergency Center, 19731 Germantown Road, which opened in August 2006.
“We’re looking for ways to get complementary services and not to duplicate services,” Hansen said. “This location makes sense on a regional basis.”
