OKC lands new state of the art Treatment Facility

[metro]

OKC lands private cancer treatment center
By Stefanie Brickman - 12/19/2006


Thanks to a $35 million equity investment from McClendon Venture Company LLC and other individuals, ProCure Treatment Centers Inc. announced today it will locate its first private proton cancer treatment center in Oklahoma City. Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon owns MVC, which made the investment along with associates Shannon T. Self and John B. Frick.


Headquartered in Bloomington, Ind., ProCure is developing centers across the U.S. that provide Federal Drug Administration-approved proton radiotherapy.


ProCure’s New York-based CEO Hadley Ford said although the site selection in Oklahoma City has not been finalized, the planned four-room, 55,000-square-foot center will employ about 100 people. Ford said McClendon has been involved in talks with ProCure for the last few months.


“Since day one, Oklahoma City has said, ‘How can we do this?’ There has been an overwhelming positive attitude,” Ford said. “It sounds silly to say, but (Oklahoma City) has a can-do attitude.”


Members of ProCure’s senior management team have been involved in five other proton therapy centers located at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital, Los Angeles’ Loma Linda Medical Center, Houston’s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Jacksonsville’s University of Florida Health Sciences Center and Bloomington, Ind.’s Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute.


Private practices Radiation Medicine Associates and Radiation Oncology Associates are the local clinical partners.


“We provide staffing and training so the doctors can focus on medicine,” Ford said. “Our core strength is being a solution provider.”


Unavailable for comment, McClendon did make an official statement released by ProCure.


“Our investment in ProCure represents an exciting opportunity to build a dynamic company that has the opportunity to transform the way many cancers are treated,” McClendon said. “I am pleased to participate in ProCure’s mission to make proton therapy affordable and accessible to everyone who would benefit. This technology has shown remarkable success in effectively treating many forms of cancer, including brain and spinal tumors, as well as breast and prostate cancer.”

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[BDP]

Interesting. Anyone know where it will be located?

[writerranger]

Cancer Profits!$!$!$!$!$!

I encourage everyone to read Forbes Magazine's article titled, "Cancer Capitalists" from the November 27th issue last month. Mind you, Forbes is hardly a "liberal" publication. The article is about the rise of these private companies and their making local doctors "partners" in the $80 billion cancer care market. For example, did you know that oncology is the only specialty allowed to offer their own medicine for profit? When an oncologist prescribes chemotherapy, for example, the oncologist buys the chemo drugs and sells them to their patients at highly inflated prices. Most people do not realize this - and it's a scandal. You can read an MSNBC story here.

Look at the effort to lure this ProCure to Oklahoma City: Jobs! Investment! Medical care for cancer, for profit, is a HUGE business. It's not altruism that attracts McClendon and his ilk to the Cancer Industry. It is dollars. BIG dollars. There's even a press release announcing this from The Oklahoma Department of Commerce. That's right, the department of Commerce(!)

Cancer: Just another market and avenue for profits in America. May God forgive us.

Read the Forbes article - Cancer Capitalists - here.

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[metro]

Interesting. Anyone know where it will be located?

If you will notice in the article, a site hasn't been selected yet.

ProCure’s New York-based CEO Hadley Ford said although the site selection in Oklahoma City has not been finalized

[jbrown84]

It's no secret that private healthcare operators are some of the most greedy companies out there. My dad's a physician and he doesn't even like most of the large "non-profit" hospitals (Mercy and Integris) because it's so much about the money. Fortunately we have other options.

I'd be interested to see what Patrick thinks of this. I have a good guess.

[Spartan]

This is actually pretty old news, there is probably already a thread on this.

[metro]

Actually Spartan, it's not. It was a breaking news story that was emailed to me as it was happening yesterday from OKC Business. You probably won't hear about it in the Oklahoman until tomorrow or on the News stations.

[BDP]

If you will notice in the article, a site hasn't been selected yet.

I know, but I thought I was talking to big time insiders here who would really know what's going on.

I think you bring up some valid concerns writerranger, but the hard truth is that, in the US, health care is generally approached as a for-profit industry. I don't see how this is much different. It is unfortunate that it creates a community where only the richest or best insured get the best treatments (and even with insurance there's no gurantee they'll cover what you really need), but for now we can just hope that such a market brings newer and better treatments to the world faster and, in time, that such treatments will become more universal.

[writerranger]

I don't know about the timing of the Oklahoman article. The link I have in my post above from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce is from November 16th, KFOR reported, from the Associated Press, the exact same details on November 17th. Here's the Google cache. I missed it all the first go-round, this is the first I have heard of it.

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[Pete]

This is very, very disappointing news. Sounds like their main concern was getting open early... Pretty short-sighted and certainly not the best thing for the community IMO.

*******************

ProCure picks northwest site
Proton cancer treatment center won’t be built at Oklahoma Health Center.
By Jim Stafford Business Writer




The question of just where a $95 million, high-tech proton cancer treatment center will be built in Oklahoma City was answered Tuesday in an announcement that caught some by surprise.

Officials with ProCure Treatment Centers Inc. and its local physician partners said the 55,000 square-foot treatment center will be built on a six-acre site along the Kilpatrick Turnpike at MacArthur Boulevard in far northwest Oklahoma City.

That’s far from a site on the Oklahoma Health Center campus at NE 8 and Lincoln Boulevard that appeared to be the location of choice in January.

Selection of the alternative site was greeted with surprise by Dr. Joseph Ferretti, provost and senior vice president at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

“Our partners, the College of Medicine and the Hospital Trust, have been negotiating with (ProCure),” Ferretti said. “We sent paperwork to them just recently, but we haven’t heard anything from them in the last week and a half, 10 days. This comes as a surprise.”

In the announcement by Pro-Cure, it called the Kilpatrick location part of a “growing medical corridor” along the turnpike.

On Jan. 18, the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority approved a design for the center, which would have placed it at the heart of the city’s health care industry and near a $90 million cancer research center that the University of Oklahoma is building.

While the Urban Renewal Authority’s move was considered a “good positive step toward that location,” it clearly didn’t bind ProCure to the location.

At the time, Hadley Ford, Pro-Cure’s chief executive, said, “We still have sites under consideration and we’re collecting all the information.”

Ford was not available for comment Tuesday, but issued a statement that the Kilpatrick location would facilitate a fast construction schedule. ProCure officials hope to have the treatment center open by the summer of 2009.

“Our decision to choose this particular site was based on our view that we could, with great certainty, meet our aggressive schedule to bring proton therapy to this market,” Ford said in the statement. “Speed is important to us because every month of delay means hundreds of patients will have to forgo treatment.”

In an interview late Tuesday, James Jarrett, ProCure’s vice president for marketing and business development, said the company gave the Health Center location “very serious consideration,” but chose the Kilpatrick site because it presented the best opportunity to quickly get construction under way.

Groundbreaking is expected in the spring, he said.

“We felt that this would really provide the best opportunity to have the most aggressive schedule, which allowed us to start treating patients in as timely a fashion as possible,” Jarrett said.

ProCure will be leasing the sixacre campus, but Jarrett would not identify the owner of the land.

For backers of the Health Center campus location, news of the site selection brought disappointment.

“I’m obviously very disappointed with their choice and would have preferred that they would have gone to the Eighth and Lincoln site that is part of the Health Center,” said Carl Edwards, chairman of the Presbyterian Health Foundation. “Because of the cancer institute that is going to be built on the Health Center campus, we felt like it was a natural complement to that and would actually helped make that comprehensive cancer center even more comprehensive and a better facility.”

Local partners in the center are nine physician members of Radiation Medicine Associates and Radiation Oncology Associates.

ProCure also attracted local investment from a group headed by energy executive Aubrey McClendon, chairman and chief executive of Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corp.

[jbrown84]

This is terrible. What a bunch of greedy, foolish men. They obviously could care less about patients or furthering cancer research in Oklahoma. They are locating there for the same reason Mercy located out there. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

McClendon should be ASHAMED of himself. I hope he loses his shirt on this.

[Pete]

This is why I hate the Kilpatrick Turnpike and other freeways built in the middle of cow pastures.

At a time OKC is desperately trying to revive the central part of the city for everyone's benefit (which is why we've poured tons of tax dollars and incentives into the area -- not only MAPS but big incentives to St. Anthony) they are also making it easy for people develop in the outskirts by building infrastructure prematurely.

So, instead of bring jobs and new residents to any area that still needs a lot of help, we'll get a six-acre medical park that's a long way from the majority of the city's residents, and certainly more ugly tract homes and chain restaurants will continue to follow.


Urban sprawl at it's absolute worst.

[BDP]

Honestly, I was kind of surprised that an Aubrey McClendon venture was considering downtown to begin with, but, still very disappointing. Two steps forward... one step back.

[bombermwc]

$$$ is exactlly right. But, this isn't going to be a money making venture for a number of years. The cost involved in this type of treatment is very high. Reimbursement is hard to come by, so your patient base isn't the typical large scale base. This treatment works well for certain particular types of cancer, but isn't really that good for most...so again, the base is limited. You're not going to see some massive structure that treats a huge number of patients, so don't get too worried.

This doctor has been working on this for years now...so it's really OLD news. They just finally said where they were going to build. Even that isn't a surprise to anyone in the loop because it was a pipe dream for them to build downtown...it just really wasn't what he wanted to do.

I wouldn't say that he's going to flop because he's partnered with ProCure, but it isn't going to be a big money maker by any means...at least not for years. So you can take solice in the fact that he's going to have to rough it for some time.

[mranderson]

The majority of my family was killed by cancer. I do not care how much profit they make. If it makes landmark progress to fight cancer, then I say hooray. Plus, it enables Oklahomans to be treated in Oklahoma and not have to go to Texas.

I just hope this is the beginning. I would even support a for profit Alzheimers center (as you may know, that is what killed my dad), and one for lung and heart diseases.

In short. At least they are willing to come here and fill a long time void. Just be glad of that before you slam the all mighty dollar.

[MikeLucky]

“It sounds silly to say, but (Oklahoma City) has a can-do attitude.”


so why exactly does it sound silly that OKC would have a can-do attitude????

[Rage 2.0]

Trust me this area will burst with development...

In Tulsa-- Cancer Treatment Center was built at 81st & 169 or you can say 81st & Mingo-- Just in 2 years -- 15 new medical buildings, 3 banks, 2 new housing developments, 3 new banks, 2 hotels which one just opened last year and they are finally widening the street...

They need this room...

[writerranger]

$$$ is exactlly right. But, this isn't going to be a money making venture for a number of years. The cost involved in this type of treatment is very high. Reimbursement is hard to come by, so your patient base isn't the typical large scale base. This treatment works well for certain particular types of cancer, but isn't really that good for most...so again, the base is limited. You're not going to see some massive structure that treats a huge number of patients, so don't get too worried.

This doctor has been working on this for years now...so it's really OLD news. They just finally said where they were going to build. Even that isn't a surprise to anyone in the loop because it was a pipe dream for them to build downtown...it just really wasn't what he wanted to do.

I wouldn't say that he's going to flop because he's partnered with ProCure, but it isn't going to be a big money maker by any means...at least not for years. So you can take solice in the fact that he's going to have to rough it for some time.

It's not a problem how these things will profit right away, it's what they take away from other cancer treatment facilities that use those profits to pay for other things that make no money at all. In an earlier post in this thread, I linked to an article in Forbes Magazine that is a must-read for anyone interested in how we finance health care in this country - and the problem with oncology and how this nation has built a huge - and despicable - cancer industry. Here is the link again for Cancer Capitalists. Remember, this is Forbes Magazine (!)- not some leftist magazine (by a long shot). MrAnderson, if you're interested in progress with actually curing (rather than treating) a whole host of illnesses, you can't possibly support the growing for-profit cancer industry that has huge financial interests in there being no cures on the horizon. It's enough to make me sick (pardon the pun).

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[jbrown84]

Trust me this area will burst with development...

That's why it should have gone downtown. In the Oklahoma Health Center.

[mranderson]

It's not a problem how these things will profit right away, it's what they take away from other cancer treatment facilities that use those profits to pay for other things that make no money at all. In an earlier post in this thread, I linked to an article in Forbes Magazine that is a must-read for anyone interested in how we finance health care in this country - and the problem with oncology and how this nation has built a huge - and despicable - cancer industry. Here is the link again for Cancer Capitalists. Remember, this is Forbes Magazine (!)- not some leftist magazine (by a long shot). MrAnderson, if you're interested in progress with actually curing (rather than treating) a whole host of illnesses, you can't possibly support the growing for-profit cancer industry that has huge financial interests in there being no cures on the horizon. It's enough to make me sick (pardon the pun).

---------------------------------

Question. How many of your relatives (in percentage) have died from cancer? My guess is not many because I bet if they did, you would understand what I am saying. Of course, many on here decide to wear blinders when I write something, but hopefully this is not one of those times.

[writerranger]

Question. How many of your relatives (in percentage) have died from cancer? My guess is not many because I bet if they did, you would understand what I am saying. Of course, many on here decide to wear blinders when I write something, but hopefully this is not one of those times.

I lost my mother to cancer. It was one of the toughest things I've ever been through. In fact, that may be one reason why I am so passionate about this! The research into actually curing cancer is mostly limited to academia in this country, and smaller ventures in Asia and Europe. The simple fact is this: there is more money in treating cancer than in finding cures and preventing cancer; a sad and immoral fact.

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[jbrown84]

We're wearing blinders???? Maybe you should re-read writerranger's post so that you understand it. This treatment center has just proved it has no intrest in advancing cancer research by choosing NOT to locate near the epicenter of medical research in Oklahoma and the future Cancer Research Center. They would rather be right next to Gaillardia so they can take your money to treat you with high dollar therapies and build more facilities for their money-grubbing doctor friends next door.

This is the point in the thread where mranderson stops posting because he's lost the argument.

[Karried]

Looks like we were posting at the same time....

we'll get a six-acre medical park that's a long way from the majority of the city's residents,

We're talking 15-20 minutes away from Downtown ..

If someone has the money to get specialized cancer treatment, surely, they can make a 15 minute drive?

Across the way you have Gaillardia and many more affluent developments/neighborhoods with a lot of older residents possibly in need of care.

In the vicinity, you have Mercy and Mercy Heart Hospital, it's a medical area.. A cancer center would fit in nicely.

Why do you think they won't pursue research?

[jbrown84]

In the early 80's, televangelist Oral Roberts claimed to have seen a vision of a 600-foot Jesus telling him to build a hospital in Tulsa. Despite much voiced concern that Tulsa didn't need another hospital, Roberts used his connections to get the laws changed, allowing hospitals to be built anywhere. Before this, a hospital had to prove there was a need in the immediate community.

Because of his actions, we now get heart hospitals and women's hospitals and spine hospitals and cancer hospitals that are not needed. They are there because rich doctors want to get richer and they know they can make more money with a specialty hospital in the suburbs than say investing time and money in the St. Anthony Heart Hospital. This is no different.

[writerranger]

In the early 80's, televangelist Oral Roberts claimed to have seen a vision of a 600-foot Jesus telling him to build a hospital in Tulsa. Despite much voiced concern that Tulsa didn't need another hospital, Roberts used his connections to get the laws changed, allowing hospitals to be built anywhere. Before this, a hospital had to prove there was a need in the immediate community.

Because of his actions, we now get heart hospitals and women's hospitals and spine hospitals and cancer hospitals that are not needed. They are there because rich doctors want to get richer and they know they can make more money with a specialty hospital in the suburbs than say investing time and money in the St. Anthony Heart Hospital. This is no different.

Preach it brother! Say Amen! You're right, Jbrown; I had never thought of it in the context of Oral Roberts, but you make perfect sense. As for the physician-owned specialty hospitals in the suburbs - you are spot on. This is happening all over the country and is just another symptom of a broken health care system that makes marketing health care no different than marketing detergent or cellular phones.

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