Baar,13.12.2018

Radio-oncology unit to open next month

It was only last year that work on building the new radio-oncology unit at the cantonal hospital in Baar started, yet it is to be up and running as from Tuesday 3 January next year.

Indeed, the linear accelerator for radiation treatment has already been installed at the centre, which is to be run by the Lucerne cantonal hospital. As Matthias Winistörfer, the director of the Zug cantonal hospital, explained, the opening of this unit represents a milestone in the treatment of cancer patients in the canton of Zug and surrounding areas, it being able to offer all related therapies in a competent and inter-disciplinary way under one roof. And as Timothy Collen, the designate head of radio-oncology at the hospital, said, “As of January 2019 we will be able to treat all cancer patients as quickly as those in Lucerne and nearer to their homes, too.”

Not just the patients will benefit, either, as the two hospitals involved will do so, too, the one in Zug benefiting from the broader spectrum of treatment it can offer, with the Lucerne cantonal hospital able to strengthen its position as the leading provider of radio-oncological treatment in central Switzerland.

The CHF 2.3 million cost of the equipment is being borne by the Lucerne cantonal hospital, with the Zug cantonal hospital providing the CHF 5.5 million for the building. When operational, the unit will be used to treat 300 of the 1,700 patients the Lucerne hospital treats annually.

At the moment, patients hoping to benefit from the unit in Zug will still have to attend the Lucerne hospital for an initial appointment to work out their treatment plan as a computer topography scanner is necessary for this and at present there is no such machine in Baar.