sinai in the news
Sinai Opens Electronic Brachytherapy Unit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 19, 2010
Chicago - Over the recent holidays when many of us were enjoying time off from work, a very dedicated group of Mount Sinai Hospital radiation therapists was making final preparation for a new electronic brachytherapy unit. Installation of this equipment assures that Mount Sinai Hospital can provide the advanced level of care that physicians want for their patients’ cancer care. This is what patients and patients’ families want too because when a woman learns that she has breast cancer or that she has uterine cancer, she and her family do not need the additional stress that can be caused by having to travel a long way from home to get care. They want the confidence and security of knowing advanced care is close to home.
Says surgeon Angell Jones, MD, "Bracytherapy is a wonderful option for women who clinically qualify for it. It is focused radiation therapy that can be accomplished in 5 – 7 visits. Conventional radiation therapy is generally for six weeks, five days per week. For women who have children, are concerned about missing work, or who do not have ready access to transportation this form of therapy can help them complete the care that they need."
Lourdes Ramirez, Mount Sinai Hospital radiation therapist works with patients every day "Often my patients are afraid and I tell them they are in good hands – on a technical basis and on a compassionate, human basis. We have this electronic brachytherapy unit and we have patient navigators. The brachytherapy option really helps women who are worried about how they will manage getting the care the doctor has prescribed.
The patient navigators help women make their appointments, they help them with transportation if they need it, they hold patients' hands when they are anxious. And, two of the three navigators speak Spanish."
The Mount Sinai Hospital electronic brachytherapy department will begin receiving patients the first of February.
For more information about electronic brachytherapy and the treatment of breast and gynecological cancers, go to www.xoftinc.com. For more information about brachytherapy or patient navigators at Mount Sinai Hospital, call (773) 257-1875.
