Ballad Health has unveiled a “new, 10-year capital investment and collaboration with Varian, a Siemens Healthineers company, to bring advanced oncology treatment services to patients in the Appalachian Highlands.”
The agreement includes “hardware, digital solutions and software and professional and clinical services for advanced oncology solutions.” The collaboration also includes “eight TrueBeam linear accelerators, which offer flexible, high-precision treatment options for a broad range of patient needs, and one Ethos adaptive radiotherapy system, which also incorporates artificial intelligence to prepare precise calculations for oncologists to review and quickly incorporate changes to patients’ treatment plans.”
The new equipment is “underpinned with advanced digital tools that enable care teams across Ballad Health to deliver more personalized care by gaining deeper insight into patients’ medical needs and histories with Varian’s ARIA CORE oncology management solution – a cloud-based system that will provide a holistic view of patient information – and the Varian Executive Partnership program, which supports streamlined, consistent workflows and access to actionable data insights.”
The announcement follows “other recent capital announcements by the health system, including plans for a new emergency department at Johnson City Medical Center, the region’s Level 1 trauma center; increased capacity at Franklin Woods Community Hospital; and significant investments in Ballad Health’s facilities and operations in Wise County, Virginia.”
