Radiation services to be outsourced after Medical City acquisitionFree Access

The Wise Health System Cancer Center will close and medical oncology services will be relocated to the central hospital campus Dec. 1, according to Medical City Healthcare. Future radiation services are being referred to Texas Oncology. Messenger archive photo

Starting Dec. 1, chemotherapy services will be relocated inside the central hospital campus, 609 Medical Center Drive, according to Medical City Healthcare. However, radiation therapy isn’t going to be offered onsite once the Cancer Center is phased out next month.

“Future radiation oncology services will be referred to Texas Oncology, a respected practice dedicated to oncology care with 280 locations across the state,” according to Medical City.

None of Texas Oncology’s 280 locations are in Wise County. The closest Texas Oncology branches to Decatur that offer radiation therapy include locations in Denton, Weatherford and Fort Worth. There is a Texas Oncology branch in Azle, but it does not offer radiation oncology services.

The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders also offers radiation therapy at branches in Denton, Fort Worth and Weatherford.

Patients and staff were notified about the Cancer Center’s closure earlier this month. The letters to patients, which were dated Nov. 1 and signed by Dr. Neelima Maddukuri and Dr. Neeraja Dasari, offered next steps for future treatment and the secure transfer of medical records. The main hospital campus is referred to as “the newly named Medical City Decatur.”

A radiation therapist at the WHS Cancer Center, who spoke on the record, then subsequently asked to remove her name from the story, said she and other radiation oncology staff were made aware of the Cancer Center closure after Nov. 3. The staff were notified that Nov. 30 would be their last day, she said, and that the lease on the Cancer Center building was the deciding factor that led to the closure.

Medical City released the following statement regarding the relocation of medical oncology services like chemotherapy last week:

“Earlier this year, Medical City Healthcare entered an agreement to purchase Wise Health System. The building that houses the Cancer Center is not part of the pending agreement. As part of the transition, medical oncology services will move to the main campus beginning Dec. 1, 2023. All patients have been notified of the change and we are committed to helping ensure continuity of care. Wise Health System and Medical City Healthcare have rich legacies of delivering high-quality healthcare. We look forward to the potential of working together to continue caring for the Wise Health community.”

After years of mounting financial strains, WHS entered into exclusive negotiations with HCA Healthcare’s Medical City Healthcare in January. The Cancer Center plans apparently indicate that a sale could be finalized soon. As of last week, the agreement is still pending.

The pending sale would mark the end of the non-profit hospital’s nearly 50-year run, which began with the opening of the original campus in 1974 following the formation of the Decatur Hospital Authority in 1967. Once finalized, the acquisition would increase the total number of Medical City locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to 16.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story indicated patients could receive radiation therapy at the Texas Oncology location in Azle. While the location offers medical oncology services, it does not offer radiation therapy.