SYLACAUGA — Coosa Valley Regional Cancer Center offers state-of-the-art technology close to home.Dr. David Adam Jones, radiation oncologist, said the center, located on James Payton Boulevard, offers cancer therapy for both radiation and medical oncology treatments for patients with all types of cancer.
"Any cancer that radiation is indicated we can treat," he said. The center is operated by Southeast Cancer Network and has been open since 1996.
Southeast Cancer Network owns 13 facilities, mostly in central and north Alabama.
Jones has been coming to Sylacauga since 2004. He is at the center two days a week on Mondays and Thursdays.
The center gives radiation treatments to between 10 to 30 patients on a weekly basis. Radiation is given every day at the clinic, he said.
Jones, who is originally from Delaware, has a degree in mechanical engineering from Clemson University, a masters in engineering from the University of Virginia and a medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He said he chose to go into medicine using his engineering degrees to help with radiation oncology.
Jones did his internship residency at the University of Kentucky. Six years later he came to Birmingham because he said he wanted to get back to the South. He was recruited by several companies but chose this center.
"We want the public to know we are here to treat them and they don’t have to go to Birmingham or elsewhere for radiation," he said. "We treat patients from all across the county."
Jones said many physicians don’t know the center is in Sylacauga, even though it has had marketing campaigns.
"It is a struggle for patients to have to go miles away for this kind of treatment when it is nearby," he said.
Jones said radiation causes patients to be fatigued and weak.
"We are here five days a week for patients and I am here two days a week if someone needs me," he said.
Along with Jones, the center has a therapist, nurse and secretary. Carolyn Colland is the radiation nurse, Lindsay Brooks is the therapist and Wendy Fix is the secretary.
Jones said it normally takes less then 10 minutes to do a radiation treatment on a patient.
"The patient doesn’t feel anything. It is non-invasive," he said.
Jones said he was specifically hired to have a more permanent presence at the center.
The center is open 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, while Jones is available 24 hours a day for patients.
He said if radiation is done with the proper technique, it doesn’t have to burn the patient.
"It takes correct planning and understanding by the doctor of radiation, which is why my background helps," he said. "Patients don’t need to listen to all the horror stories about treatment."
The goal of the center is to make the public and doctors more aware the center is open for treatment and no one has to travel out of town.
"We’re here to make it convenient for families, so they don’t have to drive daily," he said.
For more information on the center, call 245-0297.
