April 21, 2017 - A $100 million cancer treatment center is being proposed on the University Medical Center campus on Canal Street by Tennessee-based Provision Healthcare.
Provision is pursuing a partnership for the Louisiana Proton Therapy Center with University Medical Center New Orleans, LCMC Health and LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans.
The 30,000-square-foot center will use advanced technology that produces fewer side effects than conventional radiation treatments for cancer.
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The announcement was made Friday by Provision CEO Terry Douglass and Gov. John Bel Edwards.
The project will create 60 new direct jobs, with an average annual salary of $100,000, plus benefits. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project also will result in 63 new indirect jobs.
With only two dozen proton therapy centers in operation in the U.S. – and the nearest centers at Willis-Knighton Health System in Shreveport, Louisiana, and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston – Provision will introduce a more-efficient prototype facility in New Orleans, where the company and local partners expect to draw a wide range of regional, out-of-state and out-of-country patients. The broad geographic base is expected to drive greater medical tourism to New Orleans and increase the city's profile as a healthcare destination.
"Every year, nearly two million Americans are diagnosed with cancer, and they frequently face life-threatening consequences," Gov. Edwards said. "Of these patients, several hundred thousand are good candidates for proton therapy and would greatly benefit from these innovative treatments. Yet fewer than 10 percent of those patients can now be served by existing proton therapy centers. We're proud that New Orleans will be a vital part of the solution for increasing this life-saving capacity. We'll see our largest city become a stronger healthcare magnet because of this center. Most importantly, we will see more lives saved in Louisiana."
Based in the Knoxville, Tennessee, area, Provision Healthcare was formed in 2005 with a goal of furnishing comprehensive, community-based solutions in innovative cancer care. Dr. Terry Douglass, a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, founded the firm after leading companies (EG&G Ortec, CTI Molecular Imaging) that pioneered medical imaging technologies, including PET – positron emission tomography – and PET's combination with CT – computer-assisted tomography – that became leading tools for early cancer detection.
