Proton Therapy in San Diego at Scripps Health

Scripps Proton Therapy Facility in San Diego will provide sophisticated radiation therapy for the handling of cancerous tumors along with non-cancerous illnesses. This center will be one among only fifteen in the nation and the only one in San Diego, the facility will feature cancer-fighting technology which carries on years of research and development in the field radiation therapy.

The Proton facility design along with its machines and technology must be considered since it will impact the quality and security of patients’ treatment. This offers an exceptional opportunity to utilize the current and emerging proof that a better physical environment for specialists and the support staff enhances the treatment outcomes. The major regulation requirement is the hiring of qualified staff that can use the advanced treatment equipment. Therefore the facility will require hiring highly qualified staff to deal with the technologically advanced machines.

Among the principal specialist require is a qualified Medical Physicist. A Medical Physicist is person who can autonomously practice in one or more divisions of medical physics. The American College of Radiology believes certification, ongoing education, and knowledge in the correct subfield(s) can demonstrate that a person is proficient to practice in the subfield(s) of medical physics, and be an eligible Medical Physicist.  This requires certification in the suitable subfield(s) by the American Board of Radiology or the American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP).

Other specialists required by regulations are a radiation oncologist, dosimetrist, radiation therapist, and nurse. A radiation oncologist evaluates the patient and recommends the suitable therapy, particular treatment area, and radiation dose. Operating together, the radiation oncologist, Medical physicist, dosimetrist and radiation therapist determines the best way to convey the prescribed dose. Imaging assessments are vital in providing this action; this is done by a diagnostic radiologist. The radiation physicist and the dosimetrist create thorough treatment calculations to guarantee accurately delivered treatment. Radiation therapists are trained technologists who undertake the day by day radiation treatments. Therapy nurses are group members who attend to the daily concerns and assist to handle the treatment side effects.

Credentialing- It is unusual that one person will be a specialist in every aspects of managing a proton therapy facility. Therefore, there exists a regulation requiring the whole radiation medical group to be trained in every one of the aspects regarding the operation of the facility. Though a medical physicist’s task description may be limited to specific activities, cross-training all people is encouraged in-order that each physics action can be performed by more than one health physicist to guarantee sufficient backup for permanence, safety, and treatments optimization.

It has been proven that human behavior is greatly impacted by colors. Scientific researchers have confirmed that human emotions and frame of mind are affected when enclosed by specific colors. Some make us extra aggressive, while others extend a soothing aspect on us. Psychologists have pointed out that particular colors are suitable for cancer patients’ facilities.

The colors frequently recommended are such as white, green and blue. The explanation behind these choices is the psychological impacts of these colors own. White is the mainly universal walls color and mainly recommended in such a place as the Proton Facility. This is owing to the peaceful and tranquil mood it offers. Additionally, the white color denotes neatness. It indicates sterility, which extends the effect of making cancer patients feel reassured. Doctors and nurses dress in white uniforms for the same reasons. Blue and green are deemed the most comforting and refreshing colors, indicating peaceful atmosphere, which boosts concentration. Psychologists and experts are inclined to believe that blues and greens shades make patients feel calmer, extra balanced and less emotional. Since green has a calming result on our nerves, the facility’s waiting rooms should be painted in these colors. The colors are very critical since when approaching a hospital, the universal atmosphere must make a patient feel reassured and calm. Prior to knowing a thing about the staff’s professionalism, the cancer patient’s worried face checks for visible symbols to comfort them. Thus, the facility’s walls, white, green or blue, are usually their first impression.

This San Diego Proton Facility being a new facility requires procuring latest equipment so as to offer more quality services than the other facilities. Proton beam therapy utilizes exceptional machines, cyclotron and synchrotron being among the most prevalent. The equipment is used to create and speed up protons to speeds of over 60 percent the velocity of light along with energies of over 250 million electron volts. Then, these highly energized protons are driven by magnets headed for the treatment area, and then to the precise section of the body being attended. In several older proton machines, extra pieces of equipment are required to adjust the range of protons and the figure of the beam. Latest facilities make related adjustments through fine-tuning the beam’s energy and the magnetic fields that steer their path. These adjustments direct the proton beam to particular position in the body where they convey the energy required to eliminate tumor cells.

The capital-demanding nature of building a proton therapy treatment facility requires locating prospective capital sources and developing a financeable deal arrangement promptly in the process. The management should consider equity capital, in addition to other prospective capital providers. They should additionally evaluate various probable loan arrangements and their terms. The whole structure will cost $220 million

The stakeholders own a special role in the construction and implementation of the project. Firstly, the project must be carried out according to shareholders specifications since the project should serve their needs. The project manager has a duty of overseeing project planning and development to the shareholders’ contentment. The shareholders are required to come up with sufficient finances to ensure that the Proton Therapy Facility is constructed to the end without any delays in between various levels. Additionally, patients being part of the stakeholders, the equipment to be purchased must serve their needs and better than the existing facilities. The staff’s any recommendations should be factored in to ensure that every stakeholder’s need is addressed.

The Gantt Chart

The whole project is going to take a period of twenty-four months to build. This is going to be clearly shown in the Gantt chart. This chart precisely shows the particular times the various levels of the project begin and end.

References

APT. (2010). Scripps Announces Plans for Region’s First Proton Therapy Center. Retrieved July 16, from http://www.mcnallad.com/apt/index.php?page=media

Bolan C. (2013). The promise of proton therapy. Retrieved July 16, from http://www.scripps.org/sparkle-assets/documents/doctor_and_physicist_biobriefs_fact_sheet.pdf

Griffith J. (2010). Proton Beam centers taking off. Retrieved from http://www.proton-therapy.org/documents/hre_insights.pdf