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Significant Equipment Upgrades Coming To Abben Cancer Center

May 28, 2024 Steve Schwaller

(Spencer)– Significant equipment upgrades are being made at Spencer Hospital’s Abben Cancer Center. Mindy Sylvester, the center’s director, says it will allow more patients to have their cancer treatments done locally…

“Upgrading our CT Simulator, along with the recently added equipment & software of our C-RAD program will allow us to provide the latest radiation treatment options available for our patients to have excellent cancer care close to home.
With these technologies we will be adding advanced services for deep inspiration breath hold, and that is specifically for left breast patients and also stereotactic radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery which is formulated specifically for treatment of the brain. Currently our community members have to travel to have these treatment options, but with this new equipment and software, soon they will be able to receive this care right here in Spencer. The new CT Simulator will make our treatment planning scans faster so the patient doesn’t have to be on the table as long and the images are even more precise, so it will help with the very specific treatment plans that we need for radiation treatment.”

Sylvester says the upgrades represent a substantial investment…

“The Spencer Hospital Board of trustees has approved the upgrade to this new machine and implementation for $875,000. The Spencer Hospital Foundation has pledged $325,000 towards the new machine, and it is truly because of our community’s support of the Abben Cancer Center and the Spencer Hospital Foundation that allows us to have technology and services like we do close to home. We plan for the installation of the CT to take place yet this summer, and we’re fortunate that Spencer Hospital has a CT Scanner in our Diagnostic Imaging Department, so there won’t be any interruptions in our patient care while our new CT is being installed.”

In addition to radiation oncology, Abben Cancer Center also provides medical oncology and hematology services.