Claxton-Hepburn

Win a bicycle and helmet! See page 2 for details. CONTINUES ON PAGE 2 of Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center now offers cancer patients holistic services including acupuncture, grief therapy, Reiki, and yoga—all free of charge. Treating —the— Whole Patient ANNUAL REPORT John Gebert, MD Ten years ago, Claxton-Hepburn became the first hospital in the region to offer intensity-modulated radiation therapy—a treatment in which tumors are precisely irradiated from multiple angles based on computer-generated images— when it acquired its first linear accelerator. Today, the Medical Center remains in step with the advance of radiation oncology with its recent purchase of the Varian Trilogy™ linear accelerator. PLANNING AHEAD Thanks to the Varian Trilogy, Claxton-Hepburn will soon be able to offer stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), radiation therapies for which cancer patients must currently travel at least two hours to receive. "When we began thinking about adding a second linear accelerator, we wanted a machine that would be capable of offering the therapies that will be used more and more in cancer treatment in the future," says John Gebert, MD, radiation oncologist at Claxton-Hepburn. "Both SRS and SBRT are like surgery without incisions; SRS is used for tumors from the neck up, while SBRT treats lesions in the rest of the body." The opening of an expansion to the Richard E. Winter Cancer Center this spring will mark the latest chapter in Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center's history of being on the forefront of cancer treatment. Cancer Treatment Accelerating Into the Future well Volume 13 Number 2 spring 2014 C l a x t o n - H e p b u r n M e d i c a l C e n t e r living We take your health personally.

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