After 18 months, the brand new building built within the hospital center received its state-of-the-art equipment at the end of the summer. The technical, medical and administrative teams are already hard at work. Unique in Indre, the new radiotherapy center in Châteauroux will open on time. He has already welcomed patients in consultation to establish protocols. First aid will be provided on November 3.
Mathieu Sordet and Paul Giraud, the oncologist-radiotherapists at the new Châteauroux establishment.
© (Photo NR, Thierry Roulliaud)
This is a real revolution for cancer patients in the department and border areas of Creuse. Until then, they had to travel to Poitiers, Tours, Orléans, Guéret, Limoges or Saint-Doulchard (Cher) to carry out the radiotherapy sessions still necessary in the treatment of a majority of cancers.
“It is a unique project which has not had an equivalent in France for over 30 years”
It is estimated that 1,000 different patients, or around 80 per day, will come each year for their radiation treatment in this high-tech location. On the scale of Indre, this is a colossal step forward. “From now on, Châteauroux will be able to offer a complete oncology offer, rejoices Doctor François Compagnon, director of the Saint-Jean center in Saint-Doulchard, leader of the Castelroussin project. There is now everything on site with diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy, supportive care and now radiotherapy. Our new structure will facilitate the treatment of patients in the region, reduce delays and improve the comfort of care thanks to the reduction in the number of sessions but also journeys. »
Originally from Castelroussin, François Compagnon (in the foreground), project leader, directs the Saint-Jean Center in Saint-Doulchard.
© (Photo NR, Thierry Roulliaud)
This unique and innovative project, however, had to face opposition from competitors in Limogeau but also from local politicians, notably the mayors of Issoudun André Laignel and Châteauroux Gil Avérous, who were favorable to the file of practitioners from Haute-Vienne.
The page is turned. Châteauroux today has an extraordinary tool at the service of public health with the best at the technological and human level.
The director of the Saint-Jean center, François Compagnon, is associated with two young oncologist-radiotherapist doctors, Mathieu Sordet and Paul Giraud, in their thirty enterprising years. “They will be permanently in Châteauroux, details François Compagnon who will remain based in Saint-Doulchard. They should be joined by a third colleague next year. »
One of two latest generation radiotherapy accelerators which have just been installed.
© (Photo NR, Thierry Roulliaud)
“The treatment of 60% of cancers requires radiation”
Radiotherapy is still omnipresent in oncology. “The treatment of 60% of cancers requires radiation. There are two kinds of methods today: the most classic, made up of numerous small sessions with the aim of sterilizing a tissue that is known to be contaminated; and now much more precise techniques which make it possible to burn an inoperable tumor. In addition, a certain number of our treatments are symptomatic to reduce pain or bleeding. » Fortunately, progress is not stopping in this area too. “With comparable effectiveness, radiotherapy is less toxic than before, says Doctor Compagnon. There are much fewer late effects or lifelong after-effects…”
An enthusiastic new team
The whole new team arrives in Châteauroux with enthusiasm. “It is a unique project which has not had an equivalent in France for over 30 years, exclaim the Dijon resident Mathieu Sordet and the Parisian Paul Giraud who embraced the specialty of radiotherapy with great motivation. It is transversal, both clinical and technical. We will support people with a lot of human values while using new technologies resulting from the latest research. » François Compagnon, Castelroussin by birth who lives in Issoudun, has converted his colleagues to the sweetness of life in Berry. They are already perfectly integrated into their adopted land.
A 13 million euro project without public aid
This project, with a total cost of €13 million, is entirely financed, without public aid, by the Saint-Jean oncology and radiotherapy center, which reimbursed the €4.6 million for the hospital’s construction of the 930 m2 building.
> There is a little more than €8 million worth of heavy equipment, including 2 latest generation radiotherapy accelerators, 1 scanner, software equipped with artificial intelligence and photobiomodulation equipment to reduce side effects, particularly skin side effects.
> A team of 17 people (2 doctors, 10 technicians, 3 physicists and 2 secretaries) was formed.
> Among the fifteen people recruited there are three young high-level physicists from the prestigious Curie Institute in Paris: Doris Eid, 29 years old; Alexandre Carré, 32 years old; and Modestin Sandjon, 34 years old.
