During Monday’s Board of Governors meeting, the Board approved the installation and construction costs of a new linear accelerator in the Cancer Pavilion for $383,526. The Oncology Department will receive the machine this spring, two years after it was purchased by the hospital in December 2018.

The 2018 approval did not include the installation cost which was budgeted for 2020 by Radiation Oncology. The installation project involves updates inside the vault, as well as the control room areas as machine technology and characteristics have changed since the installation of the hospital’s last linear accelerator in 2006.

“The addition of the Varian Edge Radiosurgery System is an exciting opportunity for Good Samaritan to provide the most state of the art radiation treatments for our patients,” said Dr. Brian Gebhardt, Radiation Oncologist. “This system is designed to deliver highly conformal and accurate radiation doses to tumors in the brain with a technique called stereotactic radiosurgery as well as increase the speed and precision of treatments for other tumors throughout the body. We are excited to install the machine and treat our patients.” Oncology patients will also be able to make only one to three visits for radiation treatment opposed to the two-week course of whole brain irradiation.

“With the edition of the Varian Edge™, we will be able to offer our patients the most accurate linear accelerator on the market with sub-millimeter accuracy and less imaging exposure,” said Jane Russell, Director of Oncology. “I am excited for this new addition to our Oncology Department.”

The new linear accelerator is expected to arrive this year in May or June and be fully operational in July. No interruptions are expected to affect patient care.