Consultants Forum Advertise
Subscribe
Close

  • Free for qualified executives and consultants to industry

  • Receive quarterly issues of Area Development Magazine and special market report and directory issues

Subscribe Now
Renew

Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Provision Healthcare Plans Proton Therapy Center In New Orleans, Louisiana

04/21/2017
Provision Healthcare and its partners will make a $100 million capital investment and build a 30,000-square-foot Louisiana Proton Therapy Center in the New Orleans, Louisiana. The facility will be located in the city's biomedical corridor.

Provision Healthcare is pursuing a partnership with University Medical Center New Orleans, LCMC Health and LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans. The project will create 60 new jobs.

With only two dozen proton therapy centers in operation in the U.S., and the nearest centers at Willis-Knighton Health System in Shreveport, Louisiana, and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, state officials said Provision will introduce a more-efficient prototype facility in New Orleans. The company and local partners expect to draw a wide range of regional, out-of-state and out-of-country patients. The broad geographic base is expected to drive greater medical tourism to New Orleans and increase the city’s profile as a healthcare destination.

“Provision chose to expand and invest in Louisiana because of the strength of the healthcare community in Louisiana and New Orleans, and the support and collaboration received from local and state authorities,” Dr. Terry Douglass, a Ph.D. said. “We believe that proton therapy can benefit Louisiana and New Orleans, which has some of the highest cancer-incidence rates in the country. In addition, we are particularly excited about the possibility of working with LCMC and LSU Health and the vision that they have to provide world-class cancer care in New Orleans.”

“As the region’s leading academic medical center, access to cutting-edge technology and research is a core part of our mission at University Medical Center New Orleans,” said CEO Gregory C. Feirn of LCMC Health. “This proton therapy center can provide next-generation cancer treatment to our community and region, an innovative tool in our fight against cancer and in solidifying UMC’s role in destination healthcare.”

To secure the project, LED offered the company a competitive incentive package that includes a $1 million performance-based grant, payable in five annual installments beginning in 2020, and the comprehensive workforce solutions of LED FastStart Quality Jobs Program.

Provision Healthcare and the Louisiana Proton Therapy Center have engaged The HWH Group to pursue federal New Markets Tax Credits that support redevelopment in the city’s biomedical corridor. Beyond the healthcare partnerships, a central factor in selecting the University Medical Center site is its location in a qualified U.S. census tract. The location qualifies the proton therapy cancer center development for federal financing through the New Markets Tax Credit program.

Provision plans to break ground on the Louisiana Proton Therapy Center before the end of 2017. Following a two-year construction phase, the center will begin seeing patients by late 2019.

Exclusive Research