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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Interesting. Anyone know where it will be located?

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 (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14944098/print/1/displaymode/1098/).

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 (http://www.okcommerce.gov/index.php?option=content&task=rss&id=1408&Itemid=627)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 (http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2006/1127/178_print.html).

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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

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.

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

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.

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.

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 (http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:XJrGi0tJkZUJ:www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15731105/+procure+cancer+treatment+oklahoma+city&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=2). I missed it all the first go-round, this is the first I have heard of it.

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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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

$$$ 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.

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.

“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????

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...

$$$ 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 (http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2006/1127/178_print.html). 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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Trust me this area will burst with development...

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

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 (http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2006/1127/178_print.html). 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.

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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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.

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?

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.

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

It's about the same distance from downtown as the OU campus in Norman.

And it's a heck of a long way for someone from Moore, MWC, etc. Especially since these sort of treatments are on-going and involve criticially ill people. And, it requires travel on a toll road unless you want to add a half an hour to your trip.

My dad died of a brain tumor and I had to take him from where we lived near 63rd & Meridian to Mercy many times for radiation therapy, and THAT seemed like a long way considering the state of his health.


Anyway, I'm glad OKC is getting the treatment center but the location is for no one's benefit other than the investors.

Correct. But let me remind you that people drive from all over the state right now in hours long trips to get treatment right now. A 15 minute drive isn't going to really hurt most folks. Especially since these are treatments that are emergencies. If you have an emergency, you go to the hospital, not the cancer center. For those that have a hard time getting to treatments, it doesnt matter if it's across the street or across town because they still have to get a ride. There are many free service organizations that provide transport for elderly cancer patients. I know everyone would have liked to have seen it downtown, but as i've spent many months saying on okmet, it really wasn't ever going to happen down there.

It's also very strange and pretty lousy that they were in active negotiations with the HSC and then decided on this other location without letting them know.

Sounds like the HSC people heard the news from the press.

It's also very strange and pretty lousy that they were in active negotiations with the HSC and then decided on this other location without letting them know.

Sounds like the HSC people heard the news from the press.


Yeah that's what I was thinking.

Just when you think the momentum downtown will just keep going and going something like this happens. I thought this city was finally done losing big projects like this to the outlying areas, and especially when it was nearly a done deal that they were going to the HSC with the new OU cancer center starting construction next year. I was pissed when the cancer treatment center in Tulsa built a new campus on the SE side of town and wondered why they wouldn't pair up with OSU Med. Center downtown and build there, I thought for sure the same thing wouldn't happen in OKC...

Well don't get mad at the city...get mad at the doctor. He's the one that didn't want to play by the rules with the other people at OU. And remember that OU isn't the city here. The city tried to make it work (and in their opinion, it is still in OKC so they didn't "lose" the battle).

I think many of the docs at OU cancer are kind of glad he didn't build down there...doctor egos and all...he isn't exactlly well liked.

I don't see why they feel the need to build a whole 'campus' when one currently exists at the HSC.

And notice he mentions how people will be coming from all over the region for treatment... So, naturally you locate out nowhere near the major interstates, airport, hotels and other support facilities.

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New cancer center, Integris partner
Complementary patient care campus planned.

By Jim Stafford
Business Writer

ProCure Treatment Centers Inc. revealed another major partner — Integris Health — Thursday in its plans to build a $95 million high-tech cancer treatment center in Oklahoma City

Two days after ProCure announced that it will build its center along the Kilpatrick Turnpike at MacArthur Boulevard, ProCure officials said that the company has signed a deal with Oklahoma City-based Integris Health to provide what it termed "complementary patient care” at the 55,000-square-foot proton treatment center.

"The patients at our proton therapy center will need additional health care services,” said Hadley Ford, chief executive officer of ProCure. "We need to have a partner who can provide that in seamless fashion.

"Integris has a proven track record of providing excellent patient care in a wide spectrum of specialties.”

The partnership won't exclude patients from other hospitals and physicians, said Stanley F. Hupfeld, president and chief executive officer of Integris Health.

In fact, patients will be traveling from a wide geographic region for treatment, and many will need other medical and concierge-type services that Integris can provide, he said.

"All it means is that we, along with the physicians of ProCure, will be developing a site around the ProCure facility for a national class cancer facility with diagnostic capabilities, with routine radiation therapy capabilities, with surgical capabilities,” Hupfeld said. "We are their affiliate for that development. We are in the process of master planning that development to that end.”

The six-acre site on which the ProCure center will be built is adjacent to a surgical center that Integris is building, Hupfeld said.

"Our concept is, and we are going to have to master plan the acreage around it, in kind of a mall-like effect, where you have various kinds of facilities, which would include a radiology diagnostic center with a CT scan and MRI, those kinds of equipment,” he said. "We think there will be developed a medical office building.

"From a conceptual standpoint, my thought is that it will look very much like a campus with a number of facilities tied in together with walkways and landscaping and all of that.”

Integris was not part of the decision to locate the center in far northwest Oklahoma City over a site on the Oklahoma Health Center campus near downtown, Hupfeld said.

"We, of course, were very interested in the MacArthur-Memorial (Road) site, and we had acquired the land around that and really had suggested the opportunity to master plan a very thoughtful development of a true cancer center and a true cancer campus,” he said.

Hershel Lamirand, executive director of the Oklahoma Health Center, said he was among the health center officials who were disappointed with the decision by ProCure to locate the site in northwest Oklahoma City.

"You say, ‘Congratulations,' of course, to Integris and the folks at ProCure, and you go on down the road,” Lamirand said. "As time goes on we will probably see other alternatives that will come up that will be good for Oklahoma City and good for the Health Center and good for the state.”

Other local partners in the ProCure center are the physicians affiliated with Radiation Medicine Associates and Radiation Oncology Associates, and local investors led by energy executive Aubrey McLendon, chairman and chief executive of Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corp.

Hupfeld said he was not among the local investors in ProCure.

ProCure officials have said they hope to break ground on the new cancer treatment center this spring and see their first patients by mid-summer in 2009.

"This technology is ground-breaking technology,” Hupfeld said. "It is so powerful a tool for treatment of certain kinds of cancer that we are obviously delighted to be affiliated with. We are very excited to work on master planning that whole site. I think we can do something there very special for the treatment of cancer patients in Oklahoma and the surrounding states.”

Integris was not part of the decision to locate the center in far northwest Oklahoma City over a site on the Oklahoma Health Center campus near downtown, Hupfeld said.

Yeah freakin' right.

Well, frankly, I'm glad this Procure treatment center won't be located on the HSC campus. All the Procure Treatment center is about is making profits. And proton therapy isn't where the research is leading us for cures to cancer, so it's not like this is going to be the sought after treatment facility for years to come. Getting to the root cause of cancer through genetical engineering is where the research is going. Proton therapy is just another form of radiation therapy, very unspecific for cancers, and not the wave of the future.

The focus at the OU Health Sciences Center has never been making huge corporate profits. The focus has always been on research and furthering the cause of medicine. 10 years from now when the OU Cancer Institute and Research Center has discovered how ot alter genetics to alter the fate of cancers, this proton cancer center will be years behind.

The focus of this center will not be on cutting edge research. It will be on using one modality to make millions of bucks off of. That doesn't even fit with the mission of the OUHSC. In fact, it fits better with Integris' Health mission, which is to make large profits.

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.

Yup, very true indeed. Try to go to Mercy or Integris and have a procedure done without healthcare insurance. It simply isn't going to happen. They don't care about the patient, they care about profits.

The focus is different at OU Medical Center. They give out tons of charity assistance, and you get treatment whether you have health insurance or not.

The focus is different at OU Medical Center. They give out tons of charity assistance, and you get treatment whether you have health insurance or not.

The same is true for St. Anthony.

And proton therapy isn't where the research is leading us for cures to cancer, so it's not like this is going to be the sought after treatment facility for years to come. Getting to the root cause of cancer through genetical engineering is where the research is going. Proton therapy is just another form of radiation therapy, very unspecific for cancers, and not the wave of the future.

The focus at the OU Health Sciences Center has never been making huge corporate profits. The focus has always been on research and furthering the cause of medicine. 10 years from now when the OU Cancer Institute and Research Center has discovered how ot alter genetics to alter the fate of cancers, this proton cancer center will be years behind.

Yeah that's pretty much exactly what my dad said--"Their loss."

I guess for these reasons we really don't want these guys in the OHC.

Looks like patients will have an option at the HSC after all:

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OU to add proton center to its city cancer facility
By Jim Stafford Business Writer

Future proton cancer treatment options in Oklahoma City have doubled with an announcement Friday by the University of Oklahoma that it will build a high-tech treatment on the Oklahoma Health Center campus.

OU’s announcement was made just days after Bloomington, Ind.-based ProCure Treatment Centers Inc. revealed that it will build a $95 million proton treatment center in far north Oklahoma City near the intersection of the Kilpatrick Turnpike and MacArthur Boulevard.

ProCure officials also said that Integris Health will join its Oklahoma City venture as a partner and will develop its own cancer center on the 6-acre northwest Oklahoma City site.

Oklahoma Health Center and OU officials had hoped that ProCure would choose a location for its proton center on the health center campus at NE 8 and Lincoln, just a block or so from the $90 million comprehensive cancer center the university is building.

Instead, OU will add its own proton treatment center to the cancer center already under construction, OU President David Boren said.

The timing of the OU announcement gives the appearance that the university is scrambling to match the ProCure deal, but Boren said that is not the case. The university planned to offer a proton treatment center all along, either in conjunction with Pro-Cure or by incorporating protons into its cancer center, he said.

“I wouldn’t say that we are reacting,” Boren said. “I would say that given the fact that this has recently come out, I think it’s important for it to be known that proton therapy will be part of the (OU) comprehensive cancer center.

“We’ve been waiting to see (ProCure’s choice of location), but we’ve been on a parallel track. We were very willing to invite them into our location.”

Seamless care

At least a portion of OU’s proton treatment facility will be built beneath the cancer center, Boren said, making for what he called seamless care for cancer patients undergoing treatment at the center.

“I think probably we will be in a stronger position to build exactly what suits our needs because we — the Hospital Authority — will be the 100 percent owners of this,” he said. “We will not be partners in this. We will be able to do what we really think will be totally best for us in terms of size.”

Boren would not reveal the cost or size of the proton center.

“Since we are still in those negotiations and discussions, it wouldn’t be prudent for me to say,” Boren said. “Obviously, we are hoping to get the best state-of-the-art equipment for the lowest cost.”

However, the overall cost of the building project has grown from the original $90 million to about $150 million, he said. The university also is raising about $100 million in private fundraising to invest in faculty and scientists to staff the cancer center, he said.

The proton center will be paid for with funds from the Hospital Authority that has oversight of the OU Medical Center, he said. OU is considering four options from other providers for the proton facility, he said.

“We will pay for it the way we would have paid for our share of ProCure if we would have taken a share of ProCure,” Boren said. “The Hospital Authority has the ability to finance projects based on revenue streams at the authority. It has very strong revenue streams.”

No delay expected

OU’s cancer center has been designated a comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute, and will include both research and clinical roles, including many different types of cancer treatment that includes proton therapy, Boren said.

The university announced a completion time frame of 24 to 30 months when it began construction on the cancer institute last fall. The proton center actually could be operational before the rest of the center is completed, he said.

“Let me put it this way, it certainly will not delay the opening of the cancer center,” Boren said.

Although there are only approximately six proton treatment centers in the nation, Boren predicted that proton therapy will become commonplace across the country over the next three or four years.

The high-tech treatment targets specific cancer cells using a focused beam that limits damage to other tissues. It is especially useful in treating children, Boren said.

News is welcomed

The OU announcement was welcomed by officials with the Presbyterian Health Foundation, which also is located on the Oklahoma Health Center campus and has provided more than $65 million in research grants to OU in the last decade.

“It totally makes sense to have it integrated with all the other types of photon therapy that will be (used) in the Oklahoma Cancer Institute,” said Michael Anderson, president of the Presbyterian Health Foundation. “The advantage to be in the university is that you will have top research scientists who will be involved in trials sanctioned by National Institutes of Health and under FDA regulations. It will be the only place in Oklahoma where these comprehensive trials will be held.

“It’s very, very significant. It does complete the components you would want to have in a comprehensive cancer center.”

No hard feelings

Boren said OU has had discussions with providers of proton technology to M.D. Anderson in Houston, Washington University in St. Louis, Tufts University in Boston and the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, as well as providers in Europe.

The university has no hard feelings toward ProCure, he said. ProCure operates as a private venture to generate profits for investors, while OU’s objectives are driven by its mission of education and research, he said.

“We are building one of the greatest health centers in the entire country,” Boren said. “When we think about all the things that will be coming online in that one six- or eight-block area, it’s going to be one of the most powerful medical centers in the country.”

Sometimes, if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. I'm happy to see ProCure will have some competition. I really don't see them lasting very long now. When you look at what's taking place here, you can't help but see that Sooner spirit alive and moving. At one point in time, the name "Sooner" was a derogatory label. Now, it stands proudly as a badge of acquisition. Here, the Sooners are planting their flags in the market of proton therapy. I'm sorry to get all allegiant about this, but I'm glad to see OU stepping up for Oklahoma City.

Thanks for the post MalibuSooner.

The plot thickens...

Sounds like OU and the OHC have their own goals and are not going to compromise them.

Sounds like OU and the OHC have their own goals and are not going to compromise them.

Good for them.

Glad to hear it. Maybe Procure will back out now since they won't be the only game in town...and definitely won't have the same resources...or location. Also glad to see someone stick it to private healthcare...and especially that particular doctor. Bwahahaha.

Haha I would love to see Integris get left out in the cold as well.