A Medical Device Daily

Six Southeastern Michigan healthcare systems are joining together to develop a $160 million cancer treatment center, a plan that will put them in competition with Beaumont Hospitals (Royal Oak, Michigan), which wants to build its own facility in partnership with a private investor, ProCure Treatment Centers (Bloomington, Indiana).

The six health systems in the joint venture project include Ascension Health (Grand Blanc), the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Center (Detroit), Henry Ford Health System (Detroit), McLaren Health Care (Flint), Trinity Health (Novi) and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor).

The consortium was made possible through a new rule approved last month by the state's Certificate of Need Commission, which oversees healthcare projects to ensure that expensive facilities aren't needlessly duplicated.

The rule, which still must go before Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the state legislature, requires hospitals to work together to provide proton beam therapy rather than each competing to offer the costly service. If neither Granholm nor the legislature takes action, the rule will go into effect in mid-June.

Proton beam therapy is considered most effective for so-called solid tumors that haven't spread, including cancers of the head, brain, neck, lung and prostate, as well as many pediatric tumors.

A Detroit News story noted that Beaumont filed an application earlier this year seeking state permission to build the cancer facility on its Royal Oak campus. But staff writer Christina Rogers said other healthcare organizations objected, arguing that the technology would be better developed as a collaborative effort to reach the maximum number of patients.

The joint-venture participants say their approach will have broader economic benefits to more communities. According to the Detroit Free Press, Beaumont has said it would share its facility with other hospitals but that, as a leader in radiation therapy, it can create a top center without being slowed down by a consortium approach.

Despite the Certificate of Need Commission has endorsed the consortium's plan, but Beaumont has said it plans to move forward with its application and hopes to convince state officials of the merits of developing the center on its own.

The story in The News said the consortium has until early September to submit a business plan to the commission outlining the project's costs and sources of funding. Its members are meeting regularly to develop plans for the center and find a mutually agreeable location.

Free Press medical writer Patricia Anstett said proton-beam treatment is approved by Medicare and most other insurers, but costs an average of $58,610, compared with $35,847 for more standard therapy. There are five proton beam centers in the U.S., all outside of Michigan.