By Tammy J. Gay

"Georgetown Community Hospital is excited about working with the university to bring these outstanding services closer to the patients we serve."

-- Jeff Serephine,
chief executive officer for Georgetown Community Hospital

Lexington, Ky. (Dec. 13, 2002) -- The University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center today held an open house for its new outpatient cancer treatment center for patients in Scott and surrounding counties.

Kentucky Clinic Georgetown Cancer Treatment Center, located at 1152 Lexington Road, adjacent to Georgetown Community Hospital, is a collaborative effort of the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center and Georgetown Community Hospital.

UK has collaborated with other community hospitals in Berea, Maysville and Morehead to open cancer treatment centers closer to patients' homes.

"When a patient is ill, the drive to and from Lexington can seem twice as long as it actually is," said Mohammed Mohiuddin, M.D., professor and chair of the departments of Radiation Medicine and Radiology, UK College of Medicine. "We're trying to bring the treatment closer to the patients."

"The University of Kentucky has developed a national reputation for cancer care," said Jeff Serephine, chief executive officer for Georgetown Community Hospital.

"Georgetown Community Hospital is excited about working with the university to bring these outstanding services closer to the patients we serve."

The Department of Radiation Medicine at the UK College of Medicine and Kentucky Medical Services Foundation Inc. funded the building, which features a linear accelerator, a simulator, a mold room, exam rooms and offices.

The accelerator, is housed in a cement vault with walls up to eight feet thick, treats tumors with an external beam of radiation. Patients are prepared for treatment in the simulator, where X-rays of the tumor are taken and a special computer system is used to plan the patient's treatment. Molds of the area to be treated then are poured in the mold room.

As many as 35 patients can be treated per day at the clinic, which will be staffed by a radiation medicine physician, radiation therapists and a receptionist.

For more information, call the clinic at (502) 570-4003.