A new vault and linear accelerator have been in use since April, according to Christen Sewell, radiology and oncology manager.

The vault has concrete walls and a lead door. The door is thicker than an average door to protect people on the outside from radiation, Sewell said.

The linear accelerator, made by Varian TrueBeam, creates the radiation beam for that particular cancer treatment. It can be used to treat almost all cancers, according to Sewell.

Sewell said the upgrades were needed to keep UnityPoint Health ­ Trinity Regional Medical Center on the cutting edge.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
The lead door to the vault at the Trinity Cancer Center is shown here. It is larger than an average door to protect people on the outside from radiation exposure.

“Our old piece of equipment, it didn’t have an upgrade path anymore,” Sewell said. “As medicine has progressed, newer and faster ways to treat patients have come about. So we wanted to make sure we could do those techniques. This new equipment gets us current and will help us with anything new that comes up.”

The vault and linear accelerator represent a $4.2 million project. The Trinity Foundation has committed to providing $3.5 million through fundraising. Its capital campaign is called Radiating Hope.

So far, about $1.5 million has been raised, according to Carol Grannon, senior director of development at UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge. Grannon said the community has been very supportive of the project, although fundraising was more difficult during the pandemic.

“We started some fundraising in 2020,” Grannon said. “But we have had some stops and starts. There were times where we just couldn’t get in front of people to meet. But now we have been actively fundraising. We are able to meet with people and people are able and willing to meet so we have been doing well.”

To date, 72 gifts have been received from organizations and individuals supporting the Radiating Hope project.

Although not all of the money has been raised, UnityPoint Health decided to move forward with the project in 2020, knowing how important it was to have the modernized piece of equipment.

“Back in June of 2020, we made the decision to go ahead with the construction project and installation of the accelerator without the money raised,” Grannon said. “We got the accelerator installed in December and got our team trained to provide services in April. Providing the best treatment for our patients was the priority and we thought our community would support us after the fact, knowing how important this is to our region.”

The Trinity Cancer Center first opened in 2012. An accelerator was brought over from Webster City to use at that time. It was upgraded several times over the years, according to Shannon McQuillen, vice president of people excellence for UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge.

The old accelerator will be eventually be shipped to another country.

“We partnered with an organization called Radiating Hope,” Grannon said “They gave us permission to use that theme. We liked the name so much we wanted to use it for our campaign.

“They (Radiating Hope) are an organization who locates old radiation equipment to less fortunate countries. They travel places and teach people how to use that equipment. Our piece will either be donated in its entirety or taken apart and used in places throughout the world who need this service.”

The delivery of the new one required special tools.

“The whole process of delivery is cranes and lifts because this equipment is very heavy,” Sewell said. “There’s a specific rigging team where that’s all they do is set them up.”

The new accelerator makes it possible for patients to receive care close to home, Sewell said.

“It cuts down on travel,” Sewell said. “There are patients who we can provide that service to now when previously they had to go to larger facilities.”

The new accelerator also requires fewer treatments in most cases.

“There’s certain types of cancer that there is a new technique called Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy that we could not do before,” Sewell said. “So traditionally if a patient meets criteria, they may have had 30 treatments for their lung cancer depending size and location. They could potentially now have anywhere from three to five treatments.”

The time of the treatments is also shorter.

For one particular patient, the old unit took 35 minutes from start to finish. The new ones takes between 10 and 15 minutes, Sewell said.

Sewell said another technique, called Stereotactic Radiosurgery, requires one treatment for a small brain tumor. It can deliver precisely-targeted radiation in fewer high-dose treatments than traditional therapy, according to Sewell.

Grannon added, “People receive less radiation exposure with the new machine. They are on the table for less time.”

The table can be moved in multiple directions to achieve the best accuracy, Sewell said.

Unfortunately, according to Grannon, cancer is likely to impact most people at some point in their life, whether directly or indirectly.

She said one out of three women will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their life. Meanwhile, two out of three men will be diagnosed with cancer.

Furthermore, two out of three people diagnosed with cancer will receive radiation at some point in their treatment.

In 2020, the Trinity Cancer Center treated about 150 patients. There were 2,909 total treatments for radiation.

Trinity Cancer Center serves eight counties.: Buena Vista, Pocahontas, Humboldt, Wright, Sac, Calhoun, Webster and Hamilton. It is the only provider of radiation oncology services within a 60-mile radius of Fort Dodge.

McQuillen said the level of support already received for the Radiating Hope project speaks to the importance of the equipment.

“This is significant for our patients and the people living in this community,” she said.

Grannon agreed.

“People are very supportive of the cause,” Grannon said. “There’s a lot of people in this community who have received treatment at our cancer center.”

Anyone interested in contributing to the project can donate online at https://www.unitypoint.org/fortdodge/online-donation.aspx, call (515) 574-6509 or stop by Trinity Foundation offices Monday – Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

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