KARE N VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Rajiv Panikkar, MD, chair of the Geisinger Cancer Institute, leads a tour at the future home of Geisinger Cancer Center Lewisburg on Wednesday. The facility at 4531 West Branch Highway, Lewisburg, is slated to open later this year.

A project designed to address the need for increased cancer treatment in an aging population is moving ahead with the completion of the Geisinger Cancer Center at Lewisburg expected in the latter half of this year.

When completed the center will house 14 infusion bays, increasing the amount available at the current center in Kelly Township, which eventually will be closed as services are transferred to the new site.

“We’ve been taking care of folks with cancer in Union County for more than a decade in our existing Cancer Center, and we have this opportunity for a significant expansion of our services, of what we do, both in space, exam rooms, our treatment chairs, and also services,” said Rajiv Panikkar, M.D., chair of the Geisinger Cancer Institute.

Geisinger offered a tour of the construction site to local media as the vision for the $32 million center begins to take shape at a site at 4531 Westbranch Highway near Bucknell University. About half of the cost is for construction and the remainder is for administrative costs and the cost of medical equipment.

Services, such as hematology oncology and radiation oncology which are offered at the current center, will continue at the new facility.

“Those services will continue here, medical infusion for cancer patients, external beam radiation therapy for cancers will continue here. We’re going to be adding services with palliative medicine, so our physicians who care for patients with serious illness, with serious symptoms, regardless of diagnosis-cancer and non-cancer diagnosis-will also be new for us. We will be actually having some surgical outreach services, so urologists with specialty care and cancers. We’ll have GYN (gynecological) oncologists coming and seeing patients here as part of the outreach for clinical assessment,” Panikkar said.

“And we’re working on some more, because we want to make this as easy as possible for patients in the area to come for their care and get to meet their specialists in an easy access sort of term for them,” he added.

The two-story center features 20,000 square feet on each floor, with the first floor being utilized initially and the second floor for later expansion of services.

There is activity everywhere as workers are busy constructing the areas which will provide those services. The reception area which greets patients as they enter is still open waiting for finishing touches as is the infusion area with its clearly defined cubicles placed at the front of the building. It faces windows which will provide sunlight for patients receiving treatment.

“Many of our treatments are intravenous and that’s really the focus here,” Panikkar said.

“That’s the pre-medications, the treatments themselves or sometimes symptom-related treatments that we need to get when people are under care,” he explained.

There’s a nourishment center for patients and multiple nurses’ stations.

“That way, the nurses can maintain visualization and kind of see what’s going on with patients when they get their treatment, but then people still have their privacy,” Panikkar said.

Although the majority of infusion bays will have privacy curtains, there are some more private bays with doors.

“The private kind of bays are sometimes related to infection concerns or other symptom issues that people may have. So that way that that can be handled that way, but when we compare and contrast this to our current space, it’s a significant increase in our number of chairs and spaces and a much more comfortable space,” he said.

He pointed out that at the current location there are not only fewer chairs for infusions but there is also “dramatically less space.”

“So this will be a much more comfortable environment, both for the patients, the family members that are visiting them, and also the nurses that are getting to take care of the patient. Because one of the things that I would say isn’t lost is when we bring in natural light into this kind of treatment space, it’s a nicer work environment for our staff as well, because they’re also, you know, not walled off in the corner. So it’s really good for the staff, the patients and family members, the way this kind of lays out for their ease and comfort while they’re here for treatment,” he said.

With the move to the new facility, the physical space will definitely increase, but as Panikkar noted, the efficiency of care has also been increasing.

“That has to do with some of the technology of the medical science of how we treat as well as some of the technical processes we use like how we schedule the seats as well. But it’s a significant upgrade for us,” he said.

Laboratory testing will also be available at the site as well as exam rooms for physicians to meet with patients.

One of the most impressive areas featured on the tour was the room which will house the linear accelerator used for radiation therapy.

It is almost like a concrete bunker with walls that range from 36 to 42 inches wide and some of the precast blocks used in constructing the room can weigh up to 10,000 pounds for just one block. The linear accelerator, which is not yet installed, weighs over half a ton.

“This is part of the protection process and making sure radiation isn’t being exposed to other people. The door when it’s put in is clearly a pretty impressive item,” Panikkar said.

“That’s where all the treatments will occur for the radiation therapy side. So the external beam radiation therapy to focus on cancer tumors and cancer treatments,” he added.

There will also be a television on the wall and cameras inside the room so that the therapists can monitor the patient during the treatment.

As of now there are no plans to hire additional staff for the new center, although it is in Geisinger’s business model for the future.

“This is a project we’ve been working on for quite some time and so we look at things five and ten years out,” said Andrea Wary, vice president of the Cancer Institute at Geisinger.

“Unfortunately the prevalence of cancer is growing in our community because of the age of our population, so at first we’ll just transition our staff over, but we certainly have plans if needs expand, there’ll be enough adequate space here to grow,” she added.