| In Business - Friday, May 7, 2010
El Camino Hospital unveils new 'cyberknife' treatment center
A new tumor-treatment facility at El Camino Hospital could help address the hospital's recent budget woes by attracting more patients, hospital officials said.
The hospital's Radiotherapy CyberKnife Center, which opens on May 3, will feature three new precision tumor-treatment technologies, hospital spokeswoman Chris Ernst said Tuesday. These technologies make El Camino Hosptial an attractive option for cancer patients, she said.
"Patients with cancer, they research carefully to try to find the hospitals that offer the most advanced, cutting edge treatments ... it's a way to try to attract more patients who are not at El Camino," Ernst said.
The hospital announced April 14 that it is running more than $11 million behind on its budget for the current fiscal year. Hospital officials said the budget shortfall was caused by a decrease in higher-revenue treatments and an $8 million write-off of uncollectible bills.
Ernst said funding for the Radiotherapy CyberKnife Center came from the hospital's budgets for the 2009 and 2010 fiscal years.
— ==I Martin Sanchez==
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