Cancer treatment in South Florida is getting a major upgrade. Among the innovations planned for the Miami Cancer Institute, Baptist Health South Florida and IBA have reached an agreement that will provide the area with a top-of-the-line multi-room proton therapy system.
The $80 million contract includes long-term maintenance of the three gantry ProteusPLUS, a proton system with state-of-the-art pencil beam scanning capabilities. It will also provide for all equipment and servicing.
"IBA's proton therapy technology has been used to treat more cancer patients than any other company in the world," said Olivier Legrain, CEO of IBA, in a statement. "This extensive experience and knowledge of proton therapy treatment has allowed IBA to ensure that more patients are able to access this highly accurate form of cancer treatment."
The proton system — which will also be made available to patients in Latin America and the Caribbean — is only one part of the 395,000-square-foot Miami Cancer Institute that Baptist Health is investing $430 million in. The Institute will consolidate a 305,000-square-foot clinical center and 90,000-square-foot dedicated research facility under one roof.
The project is expected to break ground in July and open in 2017. The architects behind the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center are among the designers.
With seven hospitals and over 30 outpatient facilities, Baptist Health is the largest health care organization in South Florida.