Alliance HealthCare Services and Dignity Health Bay Area Bring CyberKnife Cancer Treatment to Saint Francis Memorial Hospital

San Francisco CyberKnife treatment center to offer radiation therapy for Northern California patients

June 16, 2015 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time: NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alliance Oncology, a division of Alliance HealthCare Services, Inc., a leading national provider of outsourced healthcare services, and Dignity Health Bay Area announced today the opening of San Francisco CyberKnife, a new cancer treatment center that will begin treating patients June 22.

“We at Dignity Health are very pleased to be offering this advanced radiation therapy option for our patients throughout the San Francisco Bay Area,” said Todd Strumwasser, MD, Senior Vice President of Operations for the Dignity Health Bay Area Service Area. “Being able to treat these conditions painlessly and conveniently is yet another expression of our culture of Humankindness.”

San Francisco CyberKnife is a joint venture between Alliance Oncology, Dignity Health Bay Area hospitals: Saint Francis Memorial Hospital and St. Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco and Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City; and independent San Francisco-based physicians. Located on the campus of Saint Francis Memorial Hospital, the center offers state-of-the-art technology in a community hospital setting and will serve all three hospitals. It is positioned to serve patients locally and throughout the Greater Bay Area. Program offerings include a dedicated CyberKnife Nurse Navigator, numerous locations for patient consultation and follow-up care, and a nurse and three physicians on staff who speak Cantonese and Mandarin.

“In partnership with well-respected hospital network Dignity Health Bay Area, we are delighted to announce the grand opening of the new San Francisco CyberKnife center,” said Greg Spurlock, President of Alliance Oncology. “We are proud to support Dignity Health’s vision for service and clinical excellence while providing state-of-the-art cancer treatment for the entire Bay Area and surrounding communities.”

San Francisco CyberKnife will offer patients access to world-class outpatient cancer treatment with the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System. CyberKnife is a non-invasive alternative to surgery for the treatment of both cancerous and non-cancerous tumors anywhere in the body, including the prostate, lung, brain, spine, liver, pancreas and kidney. The treatment delivers beams of high dose radiation to tumors with extreme accuracy in five or fewer outpatient procedures. Other CyberKnife patient benefits include no anesthesia or hospitalization, minimal radiation exposure to healthy tissue, little to no recovery time, and immediate return to daily activities.

“CyberKnife is a mature technology, clinically proven to be an effective cancer treatment option,” said John Meyer, MD, radiation oncologist at San Francisco CyberKnife and editor/co-author of the textbook IMRT, IGRT, SBRT - Advances in the Treatment Planning and Delivery of Radiotherapy. “It offers hope to patients who have inoperable tumors and can reduce treatment risks for those with surgically complex tumors. As a noninvasive and painless procedure, it gives new options for those who wish to avoid the challenges of surgery.”