Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth Announces Opening of New Oncology Unit
First in Tarrant County where oncology patients can access a complete continuum of care in one location
Contact: Mary Johnson, 817-922-7088 or Sunny Drenik, 817-922-7100Email: Maryjohn@baylorhealth.edu or Sunnydr@baylorhealth.edu
(FORT WORTH, Texas, March 19, 2007) - Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth announced today that the new 26-bed oncology unit on the 7th floor of the Martin tower will open on March 20. The new oncology unit allows patients to access a complete continuum of care. The following services will be accessible on the Baylor All Saints' campus:
- Diagnosis and Staging
- Treatment
- Long-Term Follow-up
- Palliative and Terminal Care
- Dedicated Oncology Inpatient Medical Unit
- Outpatient infusion area adjacent to the inpatient unit
- Cancer Research
- Inpatient Hospice Unit
- Lymphedema Services
- Stroboscopy/Speech Therapy
- Chronic Pain Management
- Gamma Knife®* for treatment of brain tumors
"Baylor All Saints has had a tradition of providing quality cancer care," said Linda Schickedanz, R.N., MSN, CNS, Executive Director, Cancer Program, Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth. "This comfortable and spacious new environment gives us the opportunity to make a great difference in the lives of cancer patients and their families. Our goal remains providing comfort, symptom management, and hope during trying times while fighting cancer."
Cancer research, as well as the changing demographics of our community, demonstrates the need for our expanded oncology program. The Fort Worth population is projected to increase by 38,250 people annually over the next 5 years. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Texas and accounted for 22 percent of deaths in Texas in 2000. In 2006, 10.1 percent of residents in Tarrant County and the surrounding communities are 65 years and older. There will be an increased demand for oncology services of at least 2 percent per year based on the aging population alone.
The new unit consists of 26-inpatient private rooms (this has increased the number of inpatient beds from 16 to 26) and provides new services, such as a 13 bed outpatient infusion center (patients will receive outpatient chemotherapy, fluids and/or blood products).
The not-for-profit Baylor All Saints Medical Centers serve more than 100,000 people annually through two hospitals, numerous primary care physician centers and practices, a rehabilitation and fitness center, and a variety of medical specialties. Programs of excellence in cardiology, transplantation, neurosciences, oncology and women's services form the heart of the hospitals' services. All Saints joined Baylor Health Care System in January 2002. All Saints Health Foundation, a separately incorporated not-for-profit organization, raises and manages charitable funds to support Baylor All Saints Medical Centers.
*Gamma Knife is owned by and leased from an affiliate of HEALTHSOUTH and is a service of Baylor All Saints Medical Center. The Gamma Knife is not a joint venture of HEALTHSOUTH and Baylor All Saints Medical Center. The physicians providing Gamma Knife services are independent physicians.