For my Capstone project, I chose to work on something that would have a significant impact on not just the department I manage but the entire Valley Health organization. Valley Health Services is a 6-hospital organization. Winchester Medical Center is the organization's flagship hospital and home to its only Radiation Therapy department. 

The existing Cancer Center infrastructure is out of space to accommodate the expansion of the practices that inhabit the building. Currently, Valley Health Cancer Center has a 57% market share of Radiation Therapy in the Primary Service Area (PSA) and N1 region with a growth plan to increase the market share, but no space to accommodate the volumes.

This project addressed the expansion of the existing Cancer Center building to accommodate additional space for incremental expansion of oncologic surgical sub-specialties. Sub-specialty oncology expansion could include support services, medical oncology, and additional equipment for radiation oncology while assuring that patient privacy is maintained. Several strategies that drove this project included building and advancing destination services; enhancing access and expanding the availability of services, capabilities, and sites of care; and delivering an exceptional consumer experience.

Part of this project was to work with a team and present data to the Business Development Advisory Team (BDAT). Our goal was to show the BDAT that the organization needed to maintain its Certificate of Public Need (COPN) and not only replace an old Linear Accelerator (LINAC) but also build an expansion onto the Cancer Center to allow this new machine to be housed under the same roof as the rest of the Cancer Center service line. Here are the initial slides that were shown to the BDAT to get the project started. 

In the document below, my team had reviewed patient volumes from 2020 to current (Oct. 2023) and created a spreadsheet to show the Radiation Oncology departments volume projections with 3 different rates of growth.

Here, we compared an estimate of cancer incidence in the Primary Service Area (PSA) from Varian (an outside company who manufactures Linear Accelerators) to the growth of cancer incidence in the PSA from 2018. These numbers were gathered from the Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA). A conservative projection was created based on the Advisory Board’s estimate of growth. These rates were based on the addition of a Linear Accelerator, Medical Oncologists, Radiation Oncologists, Breast Surgeons, and other related oncology businesses.

At the end of this Capstone Project, the BDAT allowed the Vice President of Facilities to sign a Letter of Commitment to purchase not 1 but 3 new LINACS for the organization over the course of the next 8 years. The organization will break ground on the Cancer Center addition in early 2024 and expect to have the 3rd LINAC up and treating patients by the 2nd quarter of 2025. The organization will then begin focusing on replacing the 2 LINACS that are currently being used one at a time between 2025 and 2030. 

The full Capstone Project Report can be seen below.