NORTHRIDGE : Hospital Opens New Cancer Center

The first patients passed through the doors of Northridge Hospital Medical Center’s new $5.4-million Cancer Center this week, one of many new community cancer centers that have proliferated across the region in recent years.

The center, located in a one-story building at the front of the nonprofit hospital at 18300 Roscoe Blvd., will provide diagnosis, radiation and chemotherapy treatment, as well as counselors, chaplains and dietitians.

It is designed so that “patients can get all things in one place,” Northridge oncologist Gary Davidson said. “It brings cost down and makes it much more convenient. Cancer patients are very ill; dragging them around the city can be detrimental.”

The National Cancer Institute has designated only two comprehensive cancer treatment centers in Los Angeles County, the Kenneth Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Southern California and the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA. Centers like Northridge’s offer the same accepted treatments for cancer that are available elsewhere, but the range of experimental treatments is more limited.

Within the last five years, centers such as Northridge’s have sprung up across the region, said David Langness, vice president of communications for Hospital Council of Southern California.

“It is competitive. The trend is definitely booming--toward opening new cancer centers,” he said. Langness cited several reasons for the trend. More cancer treatments are available and survival rates have improved, which has led to an increase in the number of cancer patients in the health-care system, he said. Opening cancer centers also make sense financially, since cancer treatment is usually covered by insurance, and reimbursement rates are high, he said.

Northridge is conducting some experimental treatments in conjunction with the Jonsson center. Davidson said about nine patients are now involved in clinical studies of different combinations and dosages of traditional cancer drugs.

The new center, funded partly by a donation from the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation, is now treating about 40 patients per day, he said.