Epworth announces transfer of Radiation Oncology

Epworth announces transfer of Radiation Oncology services to Australia's largest dedicated cancer care provider – Icon Group

Epworth HealthCare has announced the transfer of its radiation oncology services to Australia’s largest dedicated cancer care provider, Icon Group.

According to Epworth Group CEO, Dr Lachlan Henderson, the decision for Epworth to transition out of the provision of radiation oncology services came down to scale and capacity.

“What we’ve realised is that we’re just not big enough to really make this side of the business viable,” he says. “It was simply logical for us to consider the potential opportunities with an industry leader with the acknowledged expertise and scale of Icon Group.

“And equally important to us was to be able to reassure both our patients and our staff that they would not be negatively impacted by the transition. We’re delighted that we’ve been able to achieve that with the confirmation that there will be no changes to delivery of patient services and no job losses.”

Epworth HealthCares’s business unit, Epworth Radiation Oncology (ERO) currently delivers private radiotherapy services in Richmond and East Melbourne and is contracted by the Victorian government to deliver public radiotherapy services at the South West Regional Cancer Centre (SWRCC) in Warrnambool.

The Warrnambool centre opened in July 2016 providing radiation oncology services to patients throughout South West Victoria at no cost.  With the change to Icon Group, those patients will continue to receive the same services at no cost.  Whilst Epworth will no longer be providing radiotherapy services it will continue its association with the region as manager of the SWRCC facility.

“We’re extremely proud to have been a partner in the planning and establishment of the centre in Warrnambool working alongside the local community that did such a terrific job in fundraising millions of dollars,” says Dr Henderson.

“We’re also delighted that the Icon Group has agreed to continue supporting that important relationship by maintaining the Community Support Centre.”

Chief Executive Officer of the Icon Group, Mr Mark Middleton says his company has always been committed to delivering exceptional cancer care across its expanding portfolio of 12 specialist radiation oncology radiation centres across Australasia.

“Icon Group have a strong commitment to delivering cancer centres close to where people live. This has seen us establish significant regional radiation oncology services nationally, including a number of radiation therapy contracts with the Queensland government. We are delighted to join the Warrnambool community and expect a seamless transition of services,” he says.

It is expected the business transition will be completed by the end of 2017.