Radiation Oncology

Carroll County General Hospital is negotiating with four health care providers to operate a radiation oncology center in Westminster.Hospital officials say having a cancer treatment facility in the county would allow some local cancer patients to receive radiation treatments here instead of traveling to Baltimore or Pennsylvania centers."

The man tapped Thursday as the CEO of the newly created University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center is known for his work in oncology, but for the last few years has been working toward a career on the administrative side of the hospital business. Radiation oncologist Dr. Mohan Suntha will take over as president and CEO of the Towson hospital Dec. 1, when the University of Maryland Medical System is expected to complete its acquisition of St. Joseph Medical Center from Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives.

The man tapped Thursday as the CEO of the soon-to-be created University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center is known for his work in oncology, but for the last few years has been working toward a career on the administrative side of the hospital business. Radiation oncologist Dr. Mohan Suntha will take over as president and CEO of the Towson hospital Dec. 1, when the University of Maryland Medical System is expected to complete its acquisition of St. Joseph Medical Center from Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives.

Married patients suffering from advanced lung cancer are likely to live longer after treatment than those who aren't hitched, according to research released today. The study by researchers at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center in Baltimore found that 33 percent of married patients with the most common type of stage III lung cancer were still alive three years after treatment. Only 10 percent of single patients were alive three years after undergoing chemotherapy and radiation.

As a radiation oncologist here in Bel Air, I wanted to share an issue that could affect the cancer treatment of a great many of our friends and neighbors. Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a change to the way free standing radiation oncology practices are reimbursed for their services. The end result is a $300 million cut to cancer care, which will have unfortunate consequences for patients who require radiation treatment. Most patients with cancer require radiation treatments in the course of their care.

*Dr. Mandeep R. Mehra, chief of cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center, has become president of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. The society brings together a wide range of transplant specialists, including cardiologists, heart surgeons, scientists and nurses. Mehra is also a professor of medicine and head of the Division of Cardiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

At the 12th annual Crystal Ball, the "Humanitarian of the Year" for the Mildred Mindell Cancer Foundation was honored for his efforts fighting cancer on the job as well as off. Award-winner Dr. Albert Blumberg, the vice-chair of radiation oncology at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, is also president of Smoke Free Maryland and served on the Governor's Task Force to End Smoking in Maryland. The gala raised $65,000 for GBMC's radiation oncology infusion services. About 475 guests gathered at Martin's West to applaud the man of the evening, including: Revanne Aronoff, Carole Diamond, Rita Shemer and Arline Steinberg, event co-chairs; Carol Pondfield, Barbara Kreshtool, Eileen Chiat, Linda Kreshtool and Marsha Glassband, event committee members; Dina Klicos, event coordinator; Bill Kroh, GBMC Foundation board chair; Larry Merlis, president and CEO of GBMC; Sheila Riggs and Sayra Meyerhoff, GBMC Healthcare board members; Bill Knott, president of First Union Bank; Larry Macklin, senior vice president at Bank of America; and Dr. Eva Zinreich, GBMC radiation oncologist.

Greater Baltimore Medical Center has seen an increase in radiation oncology business since it cut its rates by 21 percent two months ago.The price reduction illustrates the tensions when Maryland hospitals -- with rates set by a state commission -- compete for managed-care business against unregulated competitors.GBMC already had the lowest state-approved rate of any hospital in the metropolitan area for cancer radiation treatments.But it was losing business to radiation therapy centers located near hospitals but not actually in the hospitals.

Oncologist joins the staff at Carroll County GeneralMarcos Tepper, M.D., a radiation oncologist who has taught radiation oncology at Yale University, Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland, recently joined the medical staff at Carroll County General Hospital.Dr. Tepper, who also completed a fellowship in radiation therapy at Yale University School of Medicine, is certified by the American Board of Radiology and the American Board of Nuclear Medicine.Prior to joining the staff at CCGH, he was head of the division of radiation oncology at Sinai Hospital.

Married patients suffering from advanced lung cancer are likely to live longer after treatment than those who aren't hitched, according to research released today. The study by researchers at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center in Baltimore found that 33 percent of married patients with the most common type of stage III lung cancer were still alive three years after treatment. Only 10 percent of single patients were alive three years after undergoing chemotherapy and radiation.

As a radiation oncologist here in Bel Air, I wanted to share an issue that could affect the cancer treatment of a great many of our friends and neighbors. Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a change to the way free standing radiation oncology practices are reimbursed for their services. The end result is a $300 million cut to cancer care, which will have unfortunate consequences for patients who require radiation treatment. Most patients with cancer require radiation treatments in the course of their care.

* Dr. Leonard N. Howard has joined the Department of Pathology at Mercy Medical Center. Board certified by the American Board of Pathology, Anatomic & Clinical Pathology, Howard has extensive professional experience at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in the Departments of Gynecologic and Breast Pathology, Orthopedic Pathology, and Hepatic and Gastrointestinal Pathology. He also served as chief of Anatomic Pathology and chief of the Department of Pathology at Dewitt Army Community Hospital in Fort Belvoir, Va. Howard earned his medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine.

A year ago, when Gayle Driscoll's cancer recurred on her skin, the 63-year-old retired teacher from Barnstable, Mass., tried an experimental treatment that gave her radiation therapy some extra oomph. Every time she lay down for radiation treatment on her chest, her tumors were also heated with a device that emitted radio frequency waves. After six weeks, the skin tumors were gone. The heat therapy called hyperthermia was meant only as a local treatment - and the cancer ultimately spread to her bones - but it was "psychologically important" to her to see the tumors in her skin disappear, she said.

Dr. William J. Peeples, who served as Maryland's health commissioner in the late 1960s before taking up a practice in radiation oncology, died of congestive heart failure July 26 at a nursing home in Fort Myers, Fla. The former Timonium resident was 84. Born in Athens, Ga., he earned his medical degree from the University of Georgia. He served in World War II as an Army field surgeon on Okinawa and later remained in the reserves, attaining the rank of colonel. After the war, Dr. Peeples earned a master's degree in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

At the 12th annual Crystal Ball, the "Humanitarian of the Year" for the Mildred Mindell Cancer Foundation was honored for his efforts fighting cancer on the job as well as off. Award-winner Dr. Albert Blumberg, the vice-chair of radiation oncology at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, is also president of Smoke Free Maryland and served on the Governor's Task Force to End Smoking in Maryland. The gala raised $65,000 for GBMC's radiation oncology infusion services. About 475 guests gathered at Martin's West to applaud the man of the evening, including: Revanne Aronoff, Carole Diamond, Rita Shemer and Arline Steinberg, event co-chairs; Carol Pondfield, Barbara Kreshtool, Eileen Chiat, Linda Kreshtool and Marsha Glassband, event committee members; Dina Klicos, event coordinator; Bill Kroh, GBMC Foundation board chair; Larry Merlis, president and CEO of GBMC; Sheila Riggs and Sayra Meyerhoff, GBMC Healthcare board members; Bill Knott, president of First Union Bank; Larry Macklin, senior vice president at Bank of America; and Dr. Eva Zinreich, GBMC radiation oncologist.

Greater Baltimore Medical Center has seen an increase in radiation oncology business since it cut its rates by 21 percent two months ago.The price reduction illustrates the tensions when Maryland hospitals -- with rates set by a state commission -- compete for managed-care business against unregulated competitors.GBMC already had the lowest state-approved rate of any hospital in the metropolitan area for cancer radiation treatments.But it was losing business to radiation therapy centers located near hospitals but not actually in the hospitals.

Looking toward the opening of its nine-story Homer Gudelsky Tower, the University of Maryland Medical Center has agreed to purchase $10 million in radiation equipment that will upgrade the speed and precision of treatments given to cancer patients.One new system will provide a three-dimensional view of a tumor, allowing doctors to tailor the delivery of radiation beams to the unique shape and size of each tumor they seek to kill.Another new system permits doctors to view the tumor and surrounding tissue as the radiation is delivered.