MedStar Southern Maryland Opens New Cancer Center

Clinton, MD —  On Thursday, February 27, MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center celebrated the opening of its new cancer center, MedStar Georgetown Cancer Institute at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The new cancer center combines unmatched medical expertise, leading-edge therapies, and robust clinical research to provide the best possible care to people who live and work in Prince George’s County and the Southern Maryland region.

“The cancer center we are formally opening today is a beautiful new facility that combines state-of-the-art technology with a peaceful and healing environment. Our multidisciplinary team of dedicated cancer experts works together to provide the latest, evidence-based therapies to treat cancer,” said Christine Wray, president of MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center and MedStar Health senior vice president.

Hospital officials were joined by many state and local leaders, including Senator Thomas V. Miller, Jr., Maryland senate president emeritus; Dr. Ernest Carter, health officer of the Prince George’s County Health Department; Dr. Louis M. Weiner, director of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and MedStar Georgetown Cancer Institute; and Dr. Stephen “Eric” Rubenstein, medical director of the MedStar Georgetown Cancer Institute at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center. The ceremony also included remarks from cancer survivors Nomoya Malcolm and Bruce Rowe, both of whom received treatment at the center.

“I am so excited about this cancer center opening up in Prince George’s County, and it’s just so incredible that MedStar had the vision to allow our residents to stay here in the county to get their services done,” Dr. Carter said of the cancer center.

The new facility offers 25,000 square feet of treatment space. Notable capabilities include a state-of-the-art infusion center with eight treatment bays and a brand-new women’s imaging suite, with on-site DEXA bone density scans, ultrasound, and 3D mammography.

The center’s robust radiation therapy includes technologies that are not available anywhere else nearby. They include Zap-X®, the first radiosurgery system of its kind on the East Coast, which is dedicated to the treatment of brain, head and neck cancers. The facility also offers Halcyon™, a new kind of radiotherapy offering faster, more accurate treatment. The cancer program’s goal is to provide full-service cancer care, from screening and diagnosis all the way through to survivorship.

MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center’s cancer program recently received full, three-year accreditation from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (CoC). This designation recognizes the hospital for providing quality, comprehensive care using a multidisciplinary approach. Fewer than one-third of cancer programs in the country are CoC accredited.

Because the center is part of MedStar Georgetown Cancer Institute, patients also have access to clinical trials offered through the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, the only institution in the Washington, DC metropolitan region designated a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

“This is what happens when dreams come true,” said Dr. Weiner. “We can do what’s really important: we can deliver tomorrow’s treatments today, delivering what I believe is research-inspired cancer care. And instead of people having to get that care by coming into the city, wherever that city is, they can get it close to home.”