VCU's Massey Cancer Center at Stony Point opens

By Joe Kuttenkuler and Erin Lucero

RICHMOND, Va. – Now, Richmond-area patients can access a range of national cancer research advances and discoveries at a location close to their homes. This week, Virginia Commonwealth University will celebrate the newest addition to VCU's growing Stony Point medical complex with the opening of a second facility that bears the Massey Cancer Center name. VCU's Massey Cancer Center at Stony Point is a $6.6 million, 20,000-square-foot addition to an outpatient facility that has offered suburban access to physicians from VCU's Medical College of Virginia Hospitals for seven years. Last year, the Stony Point outpatient facility had more than 100,000 patient visits to its family practice and specialty physicians.

VCU's Massey Cancer Center has received continuous funding from the National Cancer Institute since 1975, when it became the first center in the state to be recognized as a clinical cancer center. The Massey Cancer Center is still the only center in the region to be so recognized, a designation that puts the resources of the NCI at the fingertips of its physicians, nurses and patients.

"Current approaches to cancer treatment may result in patients making frequent visits to their cancer center for repeated rounds of chemotherapy or radiation therapy," said Gordon Ginder, M.D., director of the Massey Cancer Center. "We wanted to offer our suburban patients the option of receiving their care in a setting closer to home."

The Stony Point site will offer a range of cancer care, from diagnosis, to the latest approaches in chemotherapy and radiation therapy, to follow-up needs like physical and occupational therapy. In addition to surgical oncology services – which have been available at

Stony Point since 1994 – the new center will offer consultations with oncologists, surgeons and radiation oncologists, assistance with pain management and symptom control, support groups and stress-management education.

The Massey Cancer Center at Stony Point also features a high-tech linear accelerator, which offers some of the most advanced options available for radiation treatment. The technology helps ensure the safest, most accurate delivery of radiation to affected areas while minimizing exposure to the patient's surrounding healthy tissue.

"Our new Stony Point facility will offer patients the same excellent care and research that are found at our center on VCU's Medical College of Virginia Campus," said Ginder. "Our Stony Point patients will have the opportunity to take full advantage of our local and national research trials on cancer prevention and treatment as well as our early detection programs."

The facility also will have a strong focus on educational and community outreach activities. A women's health seminar with a focus on cancer prevention is scheduled for later in the month, and plans are underway to establish a resource library for patients and their families.

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Highlights

VCU's Massey Cancer Center at Stony Point

The Massey Cancer Center has received continuous funding from the National Cancer Institute since 1975, when it became the first center in the state to be recognized as a clinical cancer center. The Massey Cancer Center is still the only center in the region with this designation. As one of 59 NCI-designated centers, the Massey Cancer Center has information about all clinical trials currently taking place in this country. Clinical trials evaluate innovative treatments to determine whether they may become standard procedures in the future. The Massey Cancer Center also is active in developing its own basic science research and locally initiated clinical trials that may progress into national clinical trials and ultimately mainstream care.

Access to Advanced Treatment Options

An on-site, state-of-the-art, 3-D treatment planning simulator offers patients the convenience of having all of their care provided in one location. The simulator plots the location and duration of each radiation beam delivered during treatment and enables doctors to design the most effective treatment plan for each patient's unique needs. A special feature of the simulator is its computerized tomography (CT) image capability, that offers enhanced views of the area to be treated.

Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is a new treatment advance that allows physicians to administer higher doses of radiation, while minimizing side-effects and radiation exposure to healthy tissue. The technology enables doctors to "shape" the radiation beams to avoid vital, healthy areas, while targeting a specific, diseased area.

Commitment to Community Education and Outreach

The center will have a strong focus on educational and community outreach activities. A women's health seminar with a focus on cancer prevention is scheduled for late October. The seminar is free and open to the public. Because space is limited, pre-registration is required. For more information or to register, call (804) 560-8996 by Oct. 25.

The center offers a Mind, Body and Spirit Workshop designed to enhance health and well-being. The 10-week workshop focuses on ways in which emotional, mental, social and spiritual factors can directly affect health. Peggy Bishop, N.P., leads the workshops. There is a fee for participation; for more information, call 828-4360.

Plans are underway to establish a resource library for patients and their families. The Massey Cancer Center on the MCV Campus is well-known for its extensive Linen-Powell Resource Library that is open to all patients and their families, regardless of where the patient receives treatment. A library at the Stony Point facility will provide ready access to the library's books, pamphlets, videotapes and audiotapes as well as online computer access to the NCI system for up-to-date information on diagnosis, treatment and research.

Building Features

VCU's Massey Cancer Center at Stony Point features 20,000-square-feet of exam, treatment and office space including:

– Seven chemotherapy treatment rooms and 10 exam rooms;
– A linear accelerator radiation treatment machine; and
– A radiation treatment planning simulator.

The color scheme and interior decoration seen throughout the cancer center are a result of a collaboration between Baskerville Interior Designer Joyce Foster and cancer survivors from the Massey Cancer Center. Polly Cole, volunteer coordinator and cancer resource librarian at the Massey Cancer Center, and a cancer survivor herself, worked with the artistically inclined group to decorate rooms in the center with images of color and warmth. The group also chose furniture for waiting rooms and treatment rooms.

VCU dental school graduate Baxter Perkinson's artistic talent is equaled by his generosity. Perkinson donated 38 original watercolors to the new center. The center had no budget for the purchase of art, but Perkinson's images of landscapes and life have filled both floors' treatment and exam rooms.

The Park at Stony Point
VCU's Massey Cancer Center at Stony Point is the newest addition to the outpatient medical complex. MCV Physicians in the Park at Stony Point, which opened in October 1993, features 12 medical specialties as well as an on-site laboratory. The cornerstone of the Stony Point facility is Women's HealthCare, an outpatient center that offers a full spectrum of medical services for women, including internal medicine, breast health and obstetrical care and psychiatry as well as educational classes on a variety of topics. The Stony Point facility saw more than 100,000 patients visits last year.