Provident ProtonCare, a division of Provident Resources Group, is joining forces with local health care providers to bring an $85 million proton therapy center to the Baton Rouge Health District.
Construction on the Louisiana ProtonCare Center is expected to begin next year, and the medical facility is projected to open in the fourth quarter of 2019. It will be built at the junction of Interstates 10 and 12.
Final negotiations for the center’s location in the Baton Rouge Health District are underway and nearing a conclusion.
“The new center comes from a shared desire to do more for cancer patients and will expand the already significant cancer care capabilities in the region,” says Suzy Sonnier, executive director of the Baton Rouge Health District.
The addition of the multiroom medical facility will make Baton Rouge one of 25 cities in the nation to have a proton therapy center for cancer treatment. The technology works by using a targeted, high-energy dose of radiation to destroy tumor cells, sparing healthy tissues and organs in the process and reducing side effects.
An estimated 750,000 patients worldwide have received proton therapy treatment, which has shown promise in treating common cancers such as brain, breast, GYN, head and neck, lung, pancreatic, prostate and soft tissue.
The Louisiana ProtonCare Center is a collaborative venture of health district members including Baton Rouge General Medical Center, Mary Bird Perkins-Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center and Woman’s Hospital. All will serve as clinical partners.
The facility, however, will be owned and operated by Provident ProtonCare, whose parent company, Provident Resources Group, in December acquired the Georgia Proton Treatment Center near Emory University in Atlanta for $350 million.
At the time, Provident Resources Group Chairman and CEO Steve Hicks told Daily Report he hoped to bring a proton therapy center to Baton Rouge as well.
“It has been Provident’s vision over the past decade to bring this amazing technology to the Capital Region to serve the citizens of our region and treat cancer,” Hicks says in a statement issued today. “We chose to make this substantial investment in Louisiana and the Baton Rouge region due to the outstanding cancer care being provided by the health providers in greater Baton Rouge. Furthermore, the support of the State of Louisiana and LED [Louisiana Economic Development] was a major factor in our decision to locate our next proton therapy project in Baton Rouge.”
In a statement, Todd Stevens, president and CEO of Mary Bird Perkins, says the collaboration will provide for superior proton therapy capabilities and a powerful new tool to treat cancer.
“Through clinically-proven technology and a team of worldwide leaders in innovation and science located in Baton Rouge, bringing this lifesaving initiative to fruition is inevitable,” he says.
Provident has assembled a national team of experts—including Gilbane Development Company, Gilbane Building Company, Stantec Architects and Citigroup Global Markets—for the development, financing, design and construction of the Louisiana ProtonCare Center.
Baton Rouge General CEO Edgardo Tenreiro says Baton Rouge is fortunate to have talented teams working on treating cancer.
“This proton therapy center will be a great addition to the comprehensive programs in our community, allowing people all over Louisiana and the South to stay closer to home for this innovative treatment,” he says.
LED expects the project to result in 95 new direct jobs, with an average salary of $105,000, plus benefits. The agency also estimates the project will result in another 101 new indirect jobs, for a total of more than 195 jobs in the Capital Region. Hiring will begin in 2019, with full employment expected by 2021.
The state offered Provident ProtonCare an incentive package that includes a $1 million performance-based grant, payable in five annual installments beginning in 2021, as well as LED’s FastStart and Quality Jobs programs.
