Published Sunday, August 03, 2008

Cancer center benefits immense

The president and CEO of Piedmont Newnan Hospital, G. Michael Bass, would like to convince the good people of Coweta County that locating a state-of-the-art center of excellence for cancer treatment there would somehow be bad for them ("Cancer center seen as negative" letter from July 29).

Cancer Treatment Centers of America would like to reassure the citizens of Coweta that if we decide to locate there -- and no decision has been made -- the benefits to their community will be immense. CTCA would bring more state-of-the-art cancer treatment to Coweta, as well as attract more physicians and other health care professionals, furthering the area as a true medical destination.

We will create hundreds of jobs to support cancer patients and their families. This will help boost the local economy to the tune of over $415 million the first five years.

But we're really not about economic development. We're focused on serving patients and their families, ensuring they have information they need to make smart choices to fight their disease. It is our opinion cancer patients deserve the right to be able to make choices in health care providers.

If CTCA comes, we pledge to fight cancer with all our resources and to engage in collaborative cancer research with other organizations, including Piedmont Newnan Hospital.

There are inaccuracies in Mr. Bass' letter, and we hope he accepts our invitation to meet with us so he can better understand what CTCA has to offer and why our treatment model is highly valued by cancer patients.

Winning the fight against cancer will require everyone working together. With the number of people being diagnosed and living with cancer growing, how can offering cancer patients more choices possibly be wrong?

David Kent

(Kent is vice president of business development for CTCA.)