With projections of cancer cases expected to spike in the next decade, Regional Medical Center officials say a planned expansion that would double its current cancer facility will help meet the growing demand.

"What we have is still adequate and operational, and we can accommodate new patients," said Brenda Williams, RMC vice president of compliance and overseer of the H. Filmore Mabry Center for Cancer Care expansion project. "But at the rate of growth, it will be hard for us in the future."

The hospital projects that the number of new cancer cases will increase from 3,129 in 2008 to nearly 3,565 by 2020.

That increase comes on the heels of a year when visits to the center spiked to 17,861 in 2008, 2,400 more visits than in 2006 and 2007, when the average was roughly 15,400 annually.

As a result, there have been scheduling challenges that have resulted in extended wait times and interruptions.

"We have outgrown the capacity for the facility to serve the needs of the area residents," Williams said. "Our volume of patients that we currently have is certainly not the volume we are anticipating in the future."

Mabry Center Director Theresa Chandler said the increase is age-related.

"The population of the community is getting older," Chandler said. "Cancer is a disease of aging. When there is increased age, there is increased cancer."

In light of these projections, the RMC Board of Trustees at their July meeting approved the estimated $9 to $10 million, 8,565-square-foot Mabry Center expansion. The 17-year-old facility is currently 10,145-square feet.

The expansion will likely be funded through a combination of cash, grants and borrowing.

The hospital is currently working on a certificate of need application for the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control to ensure the need for such an expansion. Officials said the application will likely be completed within a month and then go to DHEC for a six-month approval process.

"From that point, the architect will begin to design," Williams said. "Probably next year at this time, we will be breaking ground."

Center operations are expected to begin in late 2010 or early 2011.

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Expansion

The expansion will include new medical and radiation oncology space, including additional exam rooms, technology and replacement of the heating and cooling system.

The expansion will also help keep patients in Orangeburg and help slow the out migration of patients, which is about 14 percent, officials said.

A new $3.5 million linear accelerator for cancer treatment will also be a part of the upgrade.

A second vault, to protect surrounding spaces from radiation, will be constructed adjacent to the existing vault. The hospital will keep the old accelerator in the event of an increase in volume.

"Our linear accelerator, though adequate in terms of it still functioning properly, is one of the oldest in the country," Williams said. "It is time to replace it."

Renovations will also include the construction of additional infusion and medical oncology space. The current space will also be renovated.

The expansion will likely result in the addition of a medical oncologist and possibly another radiation oncologist.

"We don't want to shut down services," Williams said. "We will try to design it so we will have minimum impact on the delivery of patient care."

The hospital also plans to train general surgeons to gain privileges and receive a possible sub-speciality in areas like breast surgery.

"We have very qualified and skilled surgeons here already," Williams said, adding that patients currently travel elsewhere to have such surgery. "If we don't expand ... they will go other places. This will be a threat to our market share."

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Mobile unit

In addition to the Mabry Center expansion, the hospital will also implement a 40-foot mobile diagnostic unit van.

The van will provide digital mammography equipment and space to accommodate laboratory, bone density, vascular and other health screenings, among other services.

Officials said existing mammography and laboratory staff and equipment will be used, but an ultrasound sonographer technician will be added as part of the project.

Hospital officials said the mobile services unit will help it remain competitive with other hospitals by increasing visibility and awareness of RMC in the area.

"We did a survey of local industry, and they said that was something they were interested in," Williams said, adding that a mobile mammography unit is something other hospitals, including the Lexington Medical Center and the Medical University of South Carolina, already operate in the region. "It will help make us as competitive as other hospitals that we have not had in the past."

The mobile unit will operate like the hospital's current blood mobile unit by visiting local communities on a scheduled basis at local schools and churches.

The vehicle will cost nearly $375,000, and the mammography unit will cost an estimated $330,000.

Hospital officials said the projected annual operating expense is about $125,000, with a potential revenue of $300,000 annually. The van's operational target date is early 2010.

Williams said the mobile unit will serve in many ways as a proactive way to address community health issues.

"We have to invest and improve in the health status of our citizens in the area," she said. "This area is plagued with chronic diseases."

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T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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