The Telemachus and Irene Demoulas Family Foundation has presented Concord Hospital Trust with a major gift that will help bring the next generation of radiation technology to Payson Center for Cancer Care in 2016.
The donation is part of a campaign to raise $2 million to purchase a new linear accelerator (or LINAC) machine that will improve cancer treatment and save lives by precisely targeting radiation to destroy cancer cells, while sparing normal cells and tissue.
The total cost of the LINAC machine is $4 million. Concord Hospital is investing half of the cost and seeking the remaining $2 million in charitable donations in a special project fundraising campaign.
“Ensuring that people in the Greater Concord community have access to the most advanced cancer treatment is a cause that is important to the Telemachus and Irene Demoulas Family Foundation and our entire Market Basket family,” said spokesman David McLean. “We are proud to support the purchase of a new linear accelerator to provide state-of-the-art radiation therapy treatment.”
With the LINAC, Payson Center radiation oncologists will be able to strike at cancer cells with enhanced precision, allowing them to treat more types of cancer, with shorter duration of treatment.
“We believe this new technology is essential to serve the growing number of people in our region who seek cancer care at Payson Center, and to address increasing need for our services as we serve an aging population,” said Robert Steigmeyer, president and CEO of Concord Hospital. “We are very grateful for the Telemachus and Irene Demoulas Family Foundation’s significant donation, which will help make Payson Center’s cancer care even more sophisticated for current patients and ensure our quality care will continue into the future for new patients from all over the state of New Hampshire.”
Payson Center for Cancer Care opened in 2003 and has grown into a comprehensive, community-based cancer center offering patients in central New Hampshire the highest quality diagnosis, treatment and support – all under one roof and close to home.
Thus far, other foundation gifts for this important project include the Abbie Moseley Charitable Trust, Citizens Bank Trustee, Beveridge Family Foundation and Cogswell Benevolent Trust.
For more information on the LINAC, what it will mean to patients who rely on Payson Center, and how to contribute, contact Pamela Puleo, executive director, Concord Hospital Trust at 230-6049 or ppuleo@crhc.org.
