A new radiation/oncology center at Redlands Community Hospital is on the receiving end of support from Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF). A recent IECF grant through the James K. Wilden Fund will allow the hospital to funnel resources directly to what’s being considered a “massive” project, which began its fundraising efforts many months ago.
“Hopefully the groundbreaking is in the next few months,” said Bengt Gustavsson, President of Redlands Community Hospital Foundation. “This will be a brand-new building that houses a new linear accelerator, the PET-CT scanner. I believe there are three reasons why the project’s needed.”
The first one, Gustavsson noted, is because the current linear accelerator is on its “end of life.”
“There’s going to be a point here in the next couple of years where there’s no longer manufacturers who will service that, and so we do need a new one,” he added. “Current treatment and the outcomes are still extremely good, but yet we always want to keep up with newer technology to treat our patients.”
The second reason rests on hospital requirements related to regulations in 2030. To that end, Redlands Community Hospital will undergo some construction. The current linear accelerator and its radiation oncology department will have to move due to those renovations.
“Instead of renovating the space in the hospital itself, which would be extensive, we’ll just move it out of the hospital, build a new building. Ultimately, it’s cheaper. Plus, then it helps us get ready for seismic requirements.”
Another reason the project is needed relates to the emergence of newer technology.
“The linear accelerator is bigger than the current vault space we have,” Gustavsson added. “Moving it outside of the hospital setting is really convenient and also important for cancer patients where they’re able to follow the cancer services that the hospital will provide, which are more of an outpatient setting. So they don’t have to come in and navigate the hospital. It’s just a better environment for our cancer patients.”
Gustavsson entered his current role at the hospital in January 2024.
“I’d love people to know that we’re really focusing on our oncology services here,” he said of moving into 2025. “We’re providing oncology services and giving our local community an opportunity to be treated and we keep our patients. They don’t have to go outside the community to receive exceptional health care specifically for oncology related services.”
He went on say that a recurring theme for the hospital is, “care close to home.”
“I think that’s very important for local communities in the Inland Empire,” he said. “That means you don’t have to have cancer patients being referred out to L.A. Those places are absolutely amazing for treatment, but we have the capability to also treat these patients close here in Redlands. And that’s vital.”
Learn more at redlandshospital.org.
This story originally appeared in the Press-Enterprise, December 2024.
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