A fireplace, mountain views and massaging chairs don't cure cancer, but they can make treatment more comfortable.

These amenities and others are part of Rocky Mountain Oncology's new cancer center, at 6501 E. Second St. in the McMurry Business Park.

The center is moving from its current location just outside the Wyoming Medical Center, and doctors will start seeing patients there next week.

The public can tour the new center at an open house from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Rocky Mountain Oncology, begun in March 2004, is a partnership between Dr. Robert Tobin and the Wyoming Medical Center. The others in the practice are Drs. Paul Johnson and Keith Mills, along with certified nurse practitioner Gail Enyert. Tobin hopes to hire two more physicians.

The center provides radiation and chemotherapy. Three nurse case managers help patients coordinate their care and navigate billing, medication and insurance.

The practice, Wyoming's largest provider of cancer services, expects to maintain its number of patients at between 400 and 500 a year. Tobin said there is room to grow, but it's not necessary because of the way he structured the business.

There will be just one, instead of two, expensive radiation machines, so it will be less costly to upgrade technology over the years. The other machine will remain at the Medical Center to treat patients who are too ill to be transported.

"We will do well if we take care of our existing base of patients," he said.

The center, about two and a half times bigger than the 13-year-old Wyoming Cancer Center, offers a mix of comfort and technology.

Radiation patients must come in five days a week, so the area is designed for shorter wait times. Patients check in by scanning fingerprints. Once inside, patients receive radiation from a new, advanced linear accelerator. Computers tell the accelerator how to direct radiation beams as accurately as possible to minimize damage to healthy tissue.

On the chemotherapy side, patients might come in every week to every two or three weeks. There are 12 lounge chairs for patients to sit in for their treatment, in a room with wood flooring and a view of Casper Mountain through bay windows.

A community room in the middle will offer the massage chairs as well as Internet access and a library of cancer resources. The room is appointed like a gourmet kitchen, with polished granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. There will be several plasma televisions throughout the center.

Exam rooms throughout the office are equipped with televisions and DVD players to help patients take their minds off their treatment.

Amenities like these are one reason Tobin said he wanted to build the specialty center. They're not the type of investments hospitals are usually willing to make on their own.

But he said amenities and other details let staff and patients know they're valued. Also, Tobin was able to add the latest in health information technology to be prepared for the future. Consultation rooms, for example, have the traditional light boards doctors use to explain X-rays and scans, but also computers to handle electronic pictures.

Going high-tech has its risks, though.

"We gambled on the future of the cancer program," Tobin said. The gamble, he said, is that technology will move so quickly that equipment will be outdated before it's paid for.

The center cost about $7.6 million, he said.

With the current debate over specialty hospitals, some lawmakers and community members have criticized joint ventures such as this one.

Tobin owns 75 percent of Rocky Mountain Oncology; the Medical Center owns the rest. Tobin owns the new building.

Critics say they don't understand how the Medical Center, on one hand, fights against competition, and on the other, goes into business with potential competitors.

Tobin said the partnership makes sense because it allows the benefits of physician investment without the drawbacks.

The partnership allows him to offer the latest technology and fancy countertops, while still requiring him to treat the poorest of patients, he said.

"If you work with the hospital," he said, "you don't create competition where one side says to the other, 'You're competing unfairly.' We will take care of any indigent patient."

He said his practice gave over $1 million in uncompensated care last year, and also works with pharmaceutical companies to provide free or discount medication to uninsured patients.

Another benefit, he said, is happy doctors.

"I'm real excited about it. I like the way the place feels.

* Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Wyoming and in the country, after heart disease.

* It's estimated that in 2005, Wyoming will see 2,380 new cancer cases, and 990 cancer deaths.

* Prostate cancer is the most common cancer, but lung cancer is the most deadly. Also common are breast and colorectal cancer and melanoma.

* A 2004 survey showed that more than half of Wyomingites said they have three or more cancer risk factors. Those include: tobacco use, being overweight, not eating enough fruits and vegetables, heavy drinking, physical inactivity and sunburns.

Free cancer support available

* Comfort and a personal touch are important in treating cancer, said Janet Smith, who leads the Wyoming Medical Center's Community Cancer Resource Center.

* The center is a source of cancer information, and also provides patient comfort items including blankets, wigs and makeup, and volunteers who visit the homes of cancer patients.

* "You want to be able to have a place in a facility where patients can look up resources and feel comfortable," Smith said.

* She said patients or their families can contact her center as soon as they are diagnosed with cancer, and that the services are free.

* "Part of what's offered here, isn't so much that the materials are here, it's that there's an opportunity to sit down with someone. It empowers (patients) and they feel a little bit more prepared to face the challenge."

* For more information, reach Smith at 577-2971.

Reach Barbara Nordby at (307) 266-0633 or at barbara.nordby@casperstartribune.net.