A three-year continuation of a public-private partnership will deliver ongoing innovative radiation therapy to Bundaberg residents.
The partnership between Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service and GenesisCare, celebrating five years of service in January 2023, has now treated over 6,000 people with cancer.
Wide Bay Hospital and Health Chief Operating Officer Ben Ross-Edwards said the partnership continuation and the resulting ongoing local care was great news.
“Getting a diagnosis of cancer is always stressful for patients and their support networks,” he said.
“Our partnerships with local providers like GenesisCare allow us to provide modern treatment for the Wide Bay community nearer to home with less travel burden for themselves and their loved ones.”
In the five years of the public-private partnership, the GenesisCare centres in the Mater Hospital in Bundaberg and St Stephen’s Private Hospital in Hervey Bay have delivered radiation therapy to 6,221 patients made up of 131,631 treatment sessions.
The team has grown over the years and now employs over 60 people from the local community.
“GenesisCare provides the same high-quality service and technology treating patients in their Wide Bay centres as they’d receive in a metro centre,” Dr Sean Brennan, Regional Medical Director at GenesisCare for Wide Bay and Central Queensland said.
“For example, the centres offer stereotactic radiation therapy – a highly targeted treatment for patients with bone, spine and lung cancers as well as Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH) for breast cancer patients.”
Cancer care partnership supports Bundaberg resident
Bev Lyons lives in Bundaberg, close to her family and friends.
In 2021 and 2022 she received treatment for skin cancers on her arms.
Each arm involved 25 treatment sessions over a seven-week period.
“During my first round of treatment, I was caring for my father, who was also recently diagnosed with cancer,” she said.
“Having access to a leading cancer facility so close to home allowed me to receive my own cancer treatment while continuing to care for my dad at home.
“The team at GenesisCare Bundaberg were perfect – they were so kind and caring and made me feel comfortable throughout my whole journey.”
