Sentara Obici Hospital cut the ribbon on improved cancer treatment for Suffolk and Western Tidewater residents on Tuesday.

Dr. Steve Julian, president of Sentara Obici and Sentara BelleHarbour hospitals, led the ceremony to celebrate the Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy treatments that were introduced to Sentara Obici patients in April.

The hospital filed an application for a Certificate of Public Need in May 2016 to provide these necessary treatments to patients locally. The roughly $500,000 investment makes Sentara Obici the first hospital in Western Tidewater to provide such high-level cancer treatment, according to radiation oncology team coordinator Gail Byrd.

“This is about bringing a very sophisticated level of treatment into the community,” Julian said.

These new technologies treat specific areas of the body with precise radiation deliveries. It also offers the possibility of fewer treatment doses and a shorter amount of time between treatments compared to typical radiation techniques.

The hospital has already treated 10 patients with the new technologies since April 10.

“They’re getting state-of-the-art services close to home,” said radiation services manager Shannon Kriz.

These technologies are offered at hospitals in Norfolk and Newport News, but the distances, tunnel tolls, and time off work were too much for many patients in Western Tidewater over the years.

Julian said the hospital would typically send 20 to 30 patients out of the area annually for treatments, and about another half-dozen would refuse and discontinue their treatments altogether.

This added burden to daily cancer treatments was especially worse for older patients.

“To do that when you’re sick is a burden,” Julian said. “It’s just horrible for them.”

He said patients in Suffolk and Western Tidewater should not have to decide whether they can afford such steep travel burdens to fight cancer.

“We’ve got this so people don’t have to make that terrible choice,” Julian said. “It’s a really good thing.”