SOUTHEAST ACAQUIRES STATE APPROVAL FOR $1.6 MILLION LINEAR ACCELERATOR

Southeast Missouri Hospital has received state approval for a $1.6 million project to replace a linear accelerator used at the Regional Cancer Center.

The Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee approved Southeast's application recently.

Robert Scheper, director of radiation oncology at Southeast, said, "The new linear accelerator will improve our capabilities to administer maximum amounts of radiation that the body will tolerate and to administer them under the best-controlled conditions."

The equipment replaces a linear accelerator in use at the cancer center since 1981. More than 40 letters of support of Southeast's request for the new equipment were received from hospitals and physicians in the region.

The new accelerator is a state-of-the-art computer-driven machine with two energy levels that will allow the center to treat an entire spectrum of cancers. It is expected to be put into use Jan. 1, and will be used with another linear accelerator in use at Southeast since 1986.

The price tag includes the machine itself and room modifications like new cooling, plumbing and electrical systems and installation of steel and lead shielding.

The Southeast Missouri Hospital Foundation will use proceeds from fund-raising activities to assist with renovation costs.

Scheper said that since 1982, 5,577 patients have received 273,909 radiation treatments at the center. Last year, 381 patients were treated with radiation therapy.

Many cancers are treated with a combination of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, said Dr. Joseph P. Miller, medical director of radiation oncology at Southeast.

"The use of radiation therapy alone or in combination with other therapies continues to be studied in research centers around the world," Miller said.

"It's crucial that we offer the most up-to-date technology and equipment that we can to provide the maximum benefit to cancer patients."