The Ottawa Hospital and Elekta Forge Long-Term Strategic Partnership Agreement

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Wed May 27, 2009 9:00am EDT

Agreement to create world class cancer management centre of excellence
harnessing state-of-the-art Elekta technologies

OTTAWA, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Elekta and The Ottawa Hospital (Ottawa,
Ontario) have embarked on a decade-long mutual support project that will
create an advanced cancer treatment centre. Part of The Ottawa Hospital, The
Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre (TOHCC), will be equipped with radiation therapy
systems, as well as workflow enhancing software and treatment planning
systems, enabling TOHCC to provide sophisticated therapeutic services in a
chartless, paperless clinical environment. 

Among the largest Canadian cancer centres, TOHCC has undergone extraordinary
growth in its cancer management capacity over the last decade, and steadily
has increased its complement of Elekta radiation treatment systems during that
period. Its latest expansion to a new site at Queensway Carleton Hospital
presented the hospital with an opportunity to evolve into a national/North
American leader with global potential. 

"We needed to identify a provider with whom we could partner for long-term
sustainability and future innovation in radiation therapy," said Greg Doiron,
TOHCC Clinical Director. "We determined Elekta was best positioned to move us
into our next development phase and help us achieve our long-term objectives,
in addition to our short-term need, which is improving patients' access to
healthcare." 

Advanced technology
Under the partnership agreement, The Ottawa Hospital will acquire four Elekta
Synergy(R) treatment systems, two to be sited at The Ottawa Hospital's General
Campus and two to be operated at Queensway Carleton Hospital site, when the
cancer program starts in late 2009. 

"Our goal is to use the Elekta Synergy systems to perform advanced methods,
such as Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) and Intensity Modulated
Radiation Therapy (IMRT) as soon as possible in appropriate cases," Doiron
said. 

The Cancer Centre also will acquire MOSAIQ(R) software solutions. MOSAIQ RO
will manage radiation therapy simulation, planning, setup, verification,
delivery, review and analysis. Integrated with MOSAIQ RO is the MOSAIQ
image-enabled electronic medical record (EMR), which supports the cancer care
team by uniting diverse systems and devices. These products will form the
complete information technology infrastructure to streamline the TOHCC's
growing radiation oncology service. 

Ottawa harnesses STRATEGIQ(TM) consultative services 
The Ottawa Hospital's substantial equipment acquisitions are fundamental to
the partnership agreement, but they are not the linchpin to TOHCC's success,
Doiron said. To maximize TOHCC's clinical and operational value, The Ottawa
Hospital subjected their existing centre to an intensive process review and
restructuring through STRATEGIQ(TM) consultative tools and services.

Several Elekta representatives went to The Ottawa Hospital beginning in late
2008 and started the initial process review that carried on into early 2009. 

"They mapped our processes in detail," he explained. "The analysis covered
everything from patient referral to the cancer centre, the patients' care and
their discharge. Everything was documented in a process flow. This allowed
Elekta staff to identify business and clinical practices that we could improve
and also helped us prioritize what we needed to successfully launch and
operate the Queensway Carleton site's service."

TOHCC experience will spur Elekta technology development
The Elekta-TOHCC partnership agreement will provide Elekta with a wealth of
clinical data on the performance and effectiveness of its technology, with the
aim of using this experience and knowledge to make Elekta's offerings more
effective and efficient. 

"Combining our technological and clinical resources in The Ottawa
Hospital-Elekta partnership agreement is far more than a business
transaction," said Gerry Hogue, Vice President and General Manager, Elekta
Canada. "This agreement represents the formation of a major, collaborative
strategic relationship that we predict will not only benefit the respective
partners long into the future, but also will greatly increase access to and
increase the quality of cancer management for thousands of patients."

About The Ottawa Hospital Regional Cancer Centre
TOHCC (formerly the Ottawa Regional Cancer Centre) is a cancer treatment and
research facility providing cancer services to patients in Ottawa and Eastern
Ontario. It is part of The Ottawa Hospital, which serves the healthcare needs
of the 1.2 million residents of Ottawa and Eastern Ontario and is one of the
largest teaching and research facilities in Canada. 

About Elekta 
Elekta is a human care company pioneering significant innovations and clinical
solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. The company develops
sophisticated, state-of-the-art tools and treatment planning systems for
radiation therapy and radiosurgery, as well as workflow enhancing software
systems across the spectrum of cancer care.

Stretching the boundaries of science and technology, providing intelligent and
resource-efficient solutions that offer confidence to both healthcare
providers and patients, Elekta aims to improve, prolong and even save patient
lives, making the future possible today.

Today, Elekta solutions in oncology and neurosurgery are used in over 5,000
hospitals globally, and every day more than 100,000 patients receive
diagnosis, treatment or follow-up with the help of a solution from the Elekta
Group.

Elekta employs around 2,500 employees globally. The corporate headquarter is
located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Nordic Exchange
under the ticker EKTAb. For more information about Elekta, please visit
www.elekta.com.

 

SOURCE  Elekta, Inc.

Michelle Lee of Elekta, Inc., +1-770-670-2447, michelle.lee@elekta.com
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