Radiation Oncology Services Move to BMC Cancer Center

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Health Systems announced that its radiation oncology services will be opening in a new location at the BMC Cancer Center on Monday, Feb. 29. The move brings both radiation oncology and hematology oncology into a single location at the Hillcrest Campus of Berkshire Medical Center and completes a nearly $6 million investment by BHS in Radiation Oncology. The BMC Cancer Center is located at 165 Tor Court in Pittsfield.

The new radiation oncology clinic at BMC Cancer Center has state-of-the-art technology, featuring two new linear accelerators. Both units, a Varian IX and a Tomotherapy HD, are designed to provide precise treatment and targeting of radiation therapy, and significantly reduce any impact on surrounding healthy tissue. The accelerators can obtain either CT or X-ray images to increase the precision and accuracy of the radiation beams. Utilizing a computerized treatment-planning system to calculate treatment dose and coordinate targeting, beams can rotate around the body, entering from numerous directions.

BMC has also installed a new CT simulator for radiation oncology, which provides advanced treatment planning for each patient prior to receiving radiation therapy.

“Berkshire Health Systems has a long-standing commitment to providing the most advanced radiation oncology treatment therapies,” said Dr. Wade Gebara, medical director of Radiation Oncology at BMC. “This significant investment by the health system is designed to focus on our current needs and also the needs of the foreseen future for our community.”

Radiation oncology services at BMC see nearly 440 patients a year. A course of individual treatment is made up of between one to 44 treatments, all customized for the individual patient’s illness.

The location of radiation oncology services at the BMC Cancer Center is another phase in the completion of the center, which opened in the fall of 2013. The facility provides comprehensive cancer-care services, including hematology oncology, infusion therapy, radiation oncology, and a range of integrative care services, all under one roof and set in a scenic location surrounded by the Berkshire hills and near Onota Lake.