News In Brief

Cancer center affiliates open in Merced, Marysville

The UC Davis Health System and regional health systems in Merced and Yuba City/Marysville have held open houses for their new community cancer centers.

The facilities are the result of collaborations between the UC Davis Health System, Mercy Hospital and Health Services and the Fremont-Rideout Health Group. The goal is to help patients get cancer care from their local physicians while producing better access to clinical trials and improved radiation oncology services.

Both facilities are designed to deliver outpatient cancer treatment in a serene, beautifully-landscaped environments. Each come equipped with high-energy, dual-photon linear accelerators and telemedicine linkages. New radiation oncology treatment planning equipment will help radiation therapists plan more precisely the exact dose of radiation required to kill tumor cells while sparring healthy tissue. Likewise, three-dimensional treatment planning computers helps to better target cancer margins.

Telemedicine plays a crucial role in both facilities. The technology uses high-speed digital lines to transmit medical data as well as video and audio for long-distance consultations. Telemedicine allows physicians in outlying areas to consult with UC Davis faculty on patient care issues. It also offers physicians access to UC Davis tumor board meetings, grand rounds and other educational events.

The Fremont-Rideout Health Group had its public open house on Aug. 26 for the new facility at 618 Fifth Street in Marysville. The 18,000-square-foot building will also house the offices of the Yuba/Sutter/Colusa chapter of the American Cancer Society. Costs for equipment and construction were estimated at $8 million.

The open house for the new Mercy Cancer Center took place on May 8. Costs for the 13,500-square-foot facility at 3850 G Street were expected to top $6 million.

Mercy Hospital and Health Services has 101 licensed beds, 200 physicians and more than 650 employees. The hospital, which has served Merced, Mari- posa, and Madera counties for more than 75 years, is a member of Catholic Healthcare West.

Fremont-Rideout Health Group is a private, not-for-profit health care corporation that operates two acute care hospitals, Fremont Medical Center in Yuba City and Rideout Memorial Hospital in Marysville, and The Fountains, a 99-bed skilled nursing facility in north Yuba City. The acute care hospitals have a combined total of 259 active beds with 180 physicians on the medical staff.

Bob Chason, chief operating officer of UC Davis Medical Center, at opening ceremony for the new cancer center in Marysville.