Rachel DiGregorio undergoes proton therapy treatment at the IU Health Proton Therapy Center in Bloomington., Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013. Then she goes to work. Chris Howell | Herald-Times
IU Health Proton Therapy Center’s history
1938: Construction begins on the first IU cyclotron.
1941: The first IU cyclotron begins operation.
1969: Construction of a new IU cyclotron begins.
1975: The IU Cyclotron Facility is in operation for research purposes.
1993: IUCF treats its first cancer patient for a brain tumor as part of a research study.
Late 1990s: Discussions begin about using IUCF’s power to develop a proton radiotherapy center in Bloomington. The Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute is established.
1999: The Indiana Legislature approves a $10 million grant for IUCF. The creation of MPRI becomes mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill of 1999.
2000: Construction begins on the treatment center.
2004: Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute treats its first patient.
July 2008: MPRI becomes programmatically integrated into the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center and becomes a Clarian Health Partner (now IU Health).
July 2009: MPRI treats its 100th pediatric patient.
October 2009: MPRI enters an agreement with the James Graham Brown Cancer Center in Louisville, Ky., to provide proton therapy for its patients.
August 2010: MPRI treats its 1,000th patient.
January 2011: MPRI becomes the Indiana University Health Proton Therapy Center.
Medical directors
Allan Thornton, MD: April 2003 to April 2010.
Peter Johnstone, MD: May 2010 to February 2011.
James Douglas, MD: February 2011 to August 2011.
Peter Johnstone, MD: August 2011 to August 2014.
Teresa Oldham, MD: Current.
When the $40 million Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute (now known as the Indiana University Health Proton Therapy Center) opened in February 2004, it was one of only three proton therapy centers in the country, all of which used powerful and precise proton beams to treat aggressive and hard-to-reach cancers.
Since its inception, the center has treated more than 2,000 patients from all over the Midwest. The news that it — as well as the IU Cyclotron facility in which it’s housed — will close no later than Jan. 1, 2015, was stinging news to staff, patients and former patients.
“Wow! I am totally shocked and very sad to hear this,” said Phil Thompson, a Bloomington resident who in 2005 received 44 treatments at the center over a nine-week period for prostate cancer. “I absolutely did not see this coming. I am cancer-free today because of the center.”
Today, there are 14 proton therapy centers in the U.S., but Thompson said the one in Bloomington is a community crown jewel.
“Because of its relatively small size and Midwest location, Bloomington offers patients and families who come to the proton therapy center a special kind of hospitality,” he said. “Folks who come here from out-of-state are always very outspoken about the friendliness of people in the Bloomington community. Some patients have said they planned to eventually move here.”
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