Sherman Hospital upgrades radiation for cancer treatment, opens patient care center

ELGIN – Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin recently dedicated two new centers to add to its areas of care, one for cancer treatment and another for complete care of those with chronic conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease.

The hospital's Cancer Care Center, 1425 N. Randall Road, Elgin, now includes an expanded area for its oncology treatment with an upgraded Varian Truebeam Linear Accelerator, spokeswoman Jennifer Benson said.

The linear accelerator offers advanced stereotactic treatment, which means a precise delivery of photon radiation is aimed directly on a cancer tumor, Benson said. Lung and breast cancers are most commonly treated in this way.

The upgrade means that brain tumors can now be treated that couldn’t before because they were too small or located in hard-to-get-to places, officials said.

“A lot of progress is happening in the field of oncology as new personalized treatments are changing the landscape rapidly for the better,” Dr. C. Yeshwant, medical oncologist and chairman of the hospital’s Cancer Care committee stated in a news release.

The accelerator also has a CT scan to measure tumors day-to-day with accurate readings on any changes, officials said.

It will also decrease the dose of radiation that can affect the heart when breast cancer is on the left side, as breast cancer patients are coached to hold their breath during treatment, Benson said. Holding their breath increases the distance between the heart and the breast or chest wall during treatment, she said.

The Cancer Care Center dedication was held Dec. 7.

The Lane and Beverly Hoffman Complete Care Center brings together multiple clinics into a single outpatient setting at the hospital, Benson said.

The center treats chronic conditions with clinics for heart failure, diabetes, coumadin, heart and vascular non-invasive, neuro-diagnostics, pulmonary function, nutrition education and wound care, Benson said.

The new arrangement makes it easier for patients with multiple health conditions to go to one place, Benson said.

“None of the services being offered here are new,” Benson said. “The thing that’s new about it is that they are all located in one area for the ease of the patient.”

Doctors and caregivers meet as a group before patients arrive to make sure the care is integrated, Benson said.

“So the patient doesn’t have to worry about keeping it all straight,” Benson said.

At the Dec. 12 dedication, Sherman Patient Care Coordinator Laurel Prom led a tour, showing work stations, exam rooms and where the staff does a daily huddle to discuss that day’s patients.

“And when you’re done here, anything else that needs to be done, we fax to central scheduling,” Prom said.

The 8,525-square-foot center has 17 rooms, 11 of them for exams and three each for the wound center and for education, Benson said.

The clinics have a staff of 12 with varying patient averages, Benson said. The coumadin clinic, which manages blood thinner, averages about 50 patients a day, while 10 to 15 patients a day come for the wound clinic, she said.

Kane County Board member Mike Kenyon, R-South Elgin, who attended the Dec. 12 dedication, praised the way the hospital reorganized its clinics.

“I think it’s a wonderful thing that people still care about their health and care enough to give their money to make sure that everybody’s health can be better,” Kenyon said, referring to Lane and Beverly Hoffman, whose donation facilitated the center.

“I’ll probably be coming here,” Kenyon said. “I’m waiting in the wings.”