North Puget Cancer Center United General Hospital 2000 Hospital Drive Sedro Woolley, WA 98284 email
Director's Report This past year has brought many exciting new additions to
our cancer program at United General Hospital and North Puget Cancer Center.
These additions have allowed us to build on the great foundation that has
existed here in our Cancer Program since 1975.
Our expansion of Medical Oncology has been completed we can
now accommodate 11 infusion chairs, currently we have nine chairs available so
we will have room for growth for our future. We have added some new artwork
featuring familiar sites around Skagit County, donated by local artist Roger
Small.
The Appearance Center continues to bring smiles to the faces
of many women as Velda Blair, our licensed cosmetologist, assists them in
choosing a wig, styles it and then shows them how to care for it and style it
at home.
Social worker, Pat Lundin continues to provide one-on-one
meetings with patients and family members to assist in addressing psychosocial
needs of our patients and to provide encouragement and resources to patients
and family members.
Meg Griswold, nutritionist also meets individually with
patients and family members to discuss their nutritional needs and dietary
issues they face during cancer treatment. Meg is able to develop individualized
dietary plans for our patients to assist them in maintaining their weight and
working with the special dietary needs of the cancer patient.
Radiation Oncology added a very exciting new technology
called RapidArc. It is a software program that allows our linear accelerator to
deliver Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) in one 360° arc. It means
that we are able to deliver the radiation treatment in a more targeted,
conformal, and shorter time than ever before. We are only the third place in
the state of Washington to have this technology and at the time of installation
were one of approximately 140 sites world wide that had this technology.
With the introduction of RapidArc we also needed a new
treatment planning system to do the complex treatment planning required to
deliver a RapidArc treatment. These new tools in the fight against cancer have
been very successful in reducing treatment times and side effects.
United General Hospital’s Cancer Program remains committed
to quality treatment combined with personalized, compassionate care.
