Newswise — Baylor Scott & White Health’s Glenda Tanner Vasicek Cancer Treatment Center (VCTC) – Temple announces construction of a new radiation oncology facility that will benefit Central Texas patients being treated for cancer. With new radiation treatment equipment and more room for procedures, the facility will be able to treat up to 70 patients per day.

Located on the Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Temple campus, the two-story 27,000 square-foot facility will be adjacent to the VCTC and will allow patients to receive all cancer treatments in one location. It is estimated to be complete in the summer of 2021.

“This new facility will greatly improve the overall patient experience and allow us to provide more high-level procedures,” said Niloyjyoti Deb, MD, chairman, radiation oncology at Baylor Scott & White – Temple. “Many of these procedures can be performed in the new specialty rooms, decreasing the wait time for patients.”

“We are excited to be expanding our comprehensive care services here in Central Texas,” said Shahin Motakef, president, Baylor Scott & White – Temple and Central Region. “Our medical staff continues to focus on providing care for patients diagnosed with highly complex and rare cancers. This new facility strengthens our commitment to offering high-quality care and builds upon our team’s extensive experience through evidence-based medicine and research.”

Expanding Upon a Half Century of Experience Established in the 1960s, the radiation oncology program on the campus of Baylor Scott & White – Temple has grown through the decades, modernizing in 2010. Through a multidisciplinary approach to care, the radiation oncology program provides a multitude of treatments for breast, lung, gastrointestinal, head and neck, gynecologic, and genitourinary cancers by board-certified radiation oncologists. With several radiation therapy options available, medical staff can select appropriate treatments, including the use of technologies that may reduce a patient’s treatment time from six weeks to as little as five days, depending on the type of cancer.

Treatments that the Baylor Scott & White – Temple radiation oncology program provides include: • Intensity modulated radiation therapy for head and neck, lung, gastrointestinal, brain cancers • Deep inspiration breath hold, prone breast irradiation for breast cancers • Stereotactic body and cranial irradiation • High-dose rate brachytherapy for gynecologic, head and neck and skin cancers

“As cancer treatments have continued to advance, modernizing the radiation oncology areas is essential to providing the most up-to-date and innovative therapies,” said Stephen Sibbitt, MD, chief medical officer, Baylor Scott & White – Temple region. “This expansion will allow us to remain in the forefront of the medical community and expand as patients’ needs grow.”

For more information on cancer treatments and services, please visit the Baylor Scott & White – Vasicek Cancer Treatment Center.