WPCNR PHILADELPHIA INQUISITOR. By John F. Bailey. October 5, 2004: WPCNR has learned that the University of Pennyslvania Penn Health System in Philadelphia expects to break ground on a 1,000,000 square foot facility in July, 2005, beginning with construction of a proton accelerator treatment center to start the project. The new proton accelerator will be a competitor to the New York Presbyterian Hospital proposed facility, because it is within 90 miles of the NYPH White Plains campus, and the Philadelphia facility expects to be treating patients by mid-2008.
The proton accelerator planned to begin construction in Philadelphia duplicates the on-the-drawing-boards treatment center planned by New York Presbyterian Hospital, the site plan extension for which, was approved Monday evening at the White Plains Common Council meeting.
Nothing Has Changed?
During the Monday evening meeting it was cogently argued by Commissioner of Planning Susan Habel and four Councilpersons (Arnold Bernstein, Benjamin Boykin, Larry Delgado, and Robert Greer) buttressed their approval of a site plan extension on the premise that “nothing had changed” in conditions in the city environment since the last proton accelerator site plan renewal was approved last year. They also agreed with the Planning Department spin that the time the New York Presbyterian Hospital has had to take in drawing up approach road, landscape, storm water retention pools was a situation caused by the Common Council and the Department of Environmental Conservation storm water retention standards.
Meanwhile, at a hospital a mere 90 miles away…
WPCNR, in an interview with Susan Phillips, Chief of Staff for Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, has also learned that the facility has been in the planning for the last two years, and is expected to be completed in 2008. Phillips said Penn Medicine is in the final stages of selecting the vendor the proton accelerator.
Asked where the proton accelerator expected to draw patients from, Phillips said the facility would be the only proton accelerator in the “Northeast Corridor,” but also expected to draw patients “from all over.”
Ms. Philips declined to discuss the costs of the facility with CNR, citing the sensitivity of the proton accelerator supplier selection process she described as being in its final stages.
Penn’s Accelerator May be treating while NYPH model may still be under construction
Ms. Philips reports the Penn proton accelerator construction is on target for a mid-to-late 2008 opening.
“A proton accelerator will be acquired by Penn. We have not decided on the vendor yet. We are constructing it as part of a major ambulatory care center. It is a three-year construction period at this moment. We have already started clearing the site and the construction will commence as soon as the site is cleared. I’d say, in the next six to nine months (July, 2005).”
Funding Not Clear at this time. Vendors Vie.
WPCNR asked about how the proton accelerator (estimated by vendors Hitachi and ACCEL to be in the neighborhood of $160 Million), would be funded, Phillips said
“We’re funding it, obviously, a significant portion will come from our own operations and fundraising,” Phillips said.
Asked if the funding would consider a supplier who also invests in their own projects, such as Hitachi, (which is building the M.D. Anderson proton accelerator in Houston, and holds a financial stake in the facility), Phillips said, “ I’m speaking about the entire facility, not just the proton department, if you will, within this large facility. Once a vendor (for the proton accelerator) is selected, we’ll have more definite information on those points.”
WPCNR asked if ACCEL of Germany, Udo Klein’s company putting together the proton accelerator for the Rinecker Proton Therapy Center in Munich, was being considered by Penn, Phillips said she could not comment on that. Asked what type of accelerator (cyclotron or synchrotron ) Penn Medicine was looking at, Phillips declined: “I’m not going to comment on any specifics. We’re in a very intense phase right now, I hope you’ll understand.”
Asked the cost of the proton facility, she said, “that depends a lot on equipment. That will become clear shortly.”
The Selection of the Proton Accelerator Vendor Process
She said Penn expects to select the proton accelerator supplier within the next six months.
WPCNR asked if Ms. Phillips had taken a look at the Rinecker Proton Therapy Center in Munich, Germany, under construction. She answered, “Yes, we’ve been touring. I can’t really go into greater detail. We have been to several proton facilities.”
I inquired, “But not the Munich one?”
Ms. Phillips laughingly said, “I’m not going to go there, John.”
Walk-in Center
Commenting in general on the new facility Penn is about to start, Ms. Phillips said:
“It’s going to be a center for advanced medicine We’re very excited about it. It’s going to be adjacent to our hospital quite an excellent location for the kind of care we deliver at Penn. It’s (going to be) across the street from HUB (Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania), our main teaching hospital.”
(The Penn Health system flagship hospital is the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania), and is rated one of the nation’s “Honor Roll” hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. Penn’s School of Medicine is ranked # 3 in the nation for receipt of National Institute of Health research funds, and #4 in the nation in U.S. News ranking of top research-oriented medical schools, according to the Penn Health System website, www.uphs.upenn.edu )
The Penn Ambulatory Care Center which will house the proton accelerator is a much larger more detailed project than the New York Presbyterian Hospital Facility and has taken three years from conception to imminent start of construction.
Phillips aid the new facility would house all Penn Hospital’s advanced out-patient treatment centers. She reports the proton accelerator facility will be “contiguous” to it: “We’re building a complete ambulatory care center in four phases, and when it’s completely built-out it will be one million square feet.”
Ms. Phillips declined to say how many patients she expected the new facility to attract.
Three Years in the Making.
On the planning stage for the facility, Ms. Phillips commented, “The planning for the building has been about three years. The earnest planning for the site and the building has been the last 24 months. Once we select a vendor they will be intimately involved (in the proton accelerator construction design).”
What marketing area would the proton facility be serving, WPCNR asked.
Phillips characterized the Penn Proton Accelerator this way: “This will be the only facility of this kind in the northeastern corridor, MidAtlantic, but patients who want to come to Penn Care will come from all over. “
A Treatment of Great Worth.
I asked if she had any medical information on the accelerator and its medical performance as a cancer treatment.
She said, “We’re not going to making statements at all until we finished the vendor selection. We’re at the stage where we want to be focused on selecting the right vendor. Obviously we would not be moving forward if we didn’t think it was a treatment therapy of great worth.”
