Press Releases

Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) has been named one of the nation’s “Top Radiation Therapy Centers to Watch in 2009” by Imaging Technology News. The magazine lauds AGH’s Department of Radiation Oncology for its investment in state-of-the-art technology, operational efficiency, exceptional patient care services and status as an influential market leader in cancer treatment. 

Imaging Technology’s annual review of hospitals recognizes the most advanced and “forward-thinking” U.S. cancer treatment centers and includes such preeminent institutions as M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Mayo Clinic.

Other programs noted this year include Booker Cancer Center, Red Bank, N.J.; The Emory Clinic, Atlanta, Ga.; and Wake Forest University Department of Radiation Oncology.

“We are extremely honored by this recognition, and gratified to be distinguished along side some of the world’s leading cancer centers for the quality of care that we provide. It is a testament to the outstanding skills, training and commitment of our physicians, physicists, nurses, administrative leadership and ancillary staff, all of whom are united in a mission to provide the most individualized, compassionate and technologically superior level of cancer care possible,” said David Parda, MD, chairman of AGH’s Department of Radiation Oncology and Chairman of the West Penn Allegheny Health System Radiation Oncology Network.

AGH is the flagship facility in West Penn Allegheny’s network of nine radiation oncology clinics in Western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, representing one of the nation’s most comprehensive and technologically advanced radiation oncology programs. More than 300 patients each day receive care at one of the WPAHS Radiation Oncology Network sites.

Imaging Technology highlights many of Allegheny General’s and the network’s strengths and achievements in radiation therapy, including:

- A multi-disciplinary, comprehensive approach to patient care that includes the complete spectrum of advanced radiation care, including intensity modulated radiation therapy, image guided radiation therapy and adaptive radiation therapy.
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- As a Center for Excellence working with Siemens Medical Solutions, AGH was the third institution in the country to install megavoltage conebeam computed tomography (MVCT) solution to a linear accelerator, offering patient-friendly, precise radiotherapy that is convenient and flexible to operate.
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- AGH is the first site in the world to have integrated the Siemens Artiste Linear Accelerator with BrainLab, a sophisticated cranial and full body radiosurgery technology that provides physicians with enhanced capabilities in the treatment of complex brain and other malignant diseases, and vision RT, an infrared system allowing monitoring of patient motion during treatment.
- The hospital’s “Pause for the Cause” initiative that maximizes quality and safety by ensuring no patient treatment proceeds without the therapist stopping to ensure that the correct patient, treatment site and setup have been verified.
- An electronic medical records system.
- A patient-oriented web site that provides information about each network site, physicians, services and more. Patient satisfaction surveys are regularly compiled and reviewed.
- Clerical and billing personnel are patient advocates, highly integrated into patient care and dedicated to the patient’s overall well-being and to optimizing and advancing patient care.
- AGH’s radiation therapy network is the largest in the country accredited by the American College of Radiology, with nine radiation oncology clinics and more than 120 employees.

The article, “Top Radiation Therapy Centers to Watch in 2009,” was published in the July/August issue of Imaging Technology News and can be read online at www.itnonline.net