Press Releases (2006)

Open House Planned for Elkhart General’s new Oncology Care Unit
November 10, 2006

Elkhart, IN - A free Community Open House will be held at Elkhart General Hospital’s new Oncology Care Unit and Radiology Oncology Center on Saturday, December 2, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. The event will include a special ceremony for cancer survivors at 1:00 PM in the courtyard adjacent to the Radiation Oncology Center on the Lower Level.

The Open House will include tours by clinical specialists, door prizes, giveaways and refreshments. Patients are not yet being cared for in the new $4.8 million Oncology Care Unit located on the fourth floor, which has been under construction for the last year. Located on the Lower Level, the Radiation Oncology Center has doubled in size in recent years and has added several advanced treatment options.

“Cancer patients and their families rely on the Hospital to serve as a ‘temporary home,’ so we have designed our new Oncology Care Unit to be just that: a home away from home,” Greg Lintjer, Elkhart General President says. “Convenience and comfort have been “built in” and relaxing, pleasant earth tones reinforce the home-like atmosphere, and just as you have complete freedom to come and go in your own home, so it is with our Unit. There are no visiting hours.”

The new Unit is about three times larger than the current unit, which has permitted expanding from 13 private/semi-private rooms to 20 private rooms.

Each of the 20 private patient rooms is equipped with a Bose Wave Radio, DVD player, LCD Television, a refrigerator, recliner, and a sleeper sofa for overnight guests. To enhance personalized care, rather than contacting a central number, the bedside Call Button is programmed to contact the cell phone carried by the patient’s Nurse. The bedside computer in the room allows physicians and nurses to review the patient’s record and to update it instantaneously.

The Oncology Care Unit also features a family dining room with a meal preparation area that includes a kitchen with a sink, microwave, refrigerator, and a large table. The unit also offers a great room with a fireplace and a large wall-mounted flat screen television with attached DVD/CD. Two computer workstations with internet access will be available to family and friends. Patients and families will have the opportunity to take advantage of massage, healing touch and other soothing therapies that are offered in the Integrated Medicine rooms.

The Radiation Oncology Center is equipped with the most advanced radiation technology and has initiated new, innovative therapies. The tour of the Radiation Oncology Center will feature the new Varian 23EX Linear Accelerator that creates the radiation, called “external beam,” that kills cancer cells. Also included on the tour will be the dosimetry room used for treatment calculation, and the General Electric Light Speed Large-Bore CT Simulator used for diagnostic and treatment planning purposes.

For more information, contact Elkhart General Community Relations at (574) 523-3303.