News
JCHC to Eliminate Chemotherapy Services
The Board of Trustees of the Johnson County Healthcare Center have voted to eliminate chemotherapy treatment services beginning January 1st of 2020.
The
decision was based on a number of factors, including an expensive
remodel of their pharmacy and that the facility was losing money
providing these services.
The decision was not easy and was not taken lightly by the board nor the healthcare providers, according to Elizabeth Ketterling, Director of Pharmacy at the healthcare center.
She said new federal regulations that recently took effect outline the handling of hazardous drugs, and require upgrades to the pharmacy and its equipment, which would cost the facility upwards of a half a million dollars to do.
The expense of the remodel led to looking into the cost of chemotherapy treatments, and it was discovered they were losing a lot of money on these services, but Ketterling said the decision to eliminate the services was not an easy one.
Although the healthcare center is eliminating these services, current patients will still receive treatments and help transitioning to other facilities for treatment, according to Ketterling.
We will have more on that in an upcoming story.
