The Hampton City Council last week submitted $31 million in requests to the Virginia General Assembly in support of the Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute. From the Daily Press:
The requests include $25 million to fund cancer research and the university’s Telehealth Telemedicine program, which provides long-distance medical consultations for rural communities and veterans throughout southern Virginia.
The council also plans to advance lobbying requests to the General Assembly to block health insurance companies from withholding payments for proton therapy treatment, which delivers a less-intrusive method of radiation for gastrointestinal, brain and lung cancers but comes at a much higher cost than more traditional radiation options.
The center, which is treated more than 1,200 patients since its opening in 2010, is among the largest specialty treatment facilities of its kind in the world and the only free-standing cancer treatment center at an historically black college.
