Cancer Treatment Centers
has growth spurt in Northwood

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Cancer Treatment Centers of America, which opened in December 2005 in the site of the former Parkview Hospital at 1331 E. Wyoming Ave., is a growing operation.
"The good news is business is good. The bad news is business is good," said John Goodchild, the center’s director of marketing.
Goodchild appeared at last week’s meeting of the Northwood Civic Association. He explained that the center has more than 500 stakeholders — its term for employees — and will increase the staff to 725.
The Eastern Regional Medical Center is the third for the company. The other hospitals are located in Illinois and Oklahoma.
The center is in a five-story building, with 85 percent of patients coming from outside the Philadelphia area.
According to Goodchild, the center wants to double capacity.
New to the first floor will be examination rooms, physicians offices and a PET/CT machine, an imaging tool that enables doctors to better pinpoint the location of cancer.
On the third floor, guest rooms for patients and their loved ones will be converted to inpatient beds.
New guest rooms will be built on the fourth and fifth floors, which are largely vacant. Guest rooms are for patients who are well enough not to be admitted to the hospital, but sick enough that they can’t stay on their own in a hotel room while undergoing radiation and chemotherapy.
In the future, the center would like to build a 100-bed guest quarters on a site close to the hospital. The plan is preliminary, with Goodchild saying only that the center is looking at "lots of alternatives."
In other news from the June 17 meeting:
• Assistant District Attorney Matt Mueller, who works for the Public Nuisance Task Force, encouraged residents to contact his office with complaints.
Generally, the task force handles drug houses and nuisance bars. It has the power to seize those properties by court action.
Mueller works closely with the 15th Police District and the city Department of Licenses and Inspections. He welcomes community input, including anonymous tips. The prosecutor urged neighbors to call 911 if they see a crime committed. Also, they can call him at 215-686-5857 or the hotline at 215-686-5858.
• Several people complained about interior and exterior work being done on a home on the 900 block of Fillmore St.
The property is located within the Burk Deed Restriction, which allows only single family homes.
"That’s our ace in the hole," said civic association president Barry Howell.
Neighbors worry that the owner is trying to convert the property into a duplex, triplex or business. The civic association contacted the office of City Councilman Darrell Clarke, and the Department of Licenses and Inspections served a "stop work" order.
A hearing is scheduled for July 22 in front of the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
Members vowed to attend the hearing to show their opposition. They will collect money to hire a lawyer for the day. They will also seek letters of opposition from Clarke and Dan Savage, a former city councilman who is Democratic leader of the 23rd Ward.
• The association will also look into a complaint by a resident that a makeshift car dealership is being operated on the 1100 block of Herbert St. The resident reports that mechanics work on cars and potential buyers test drive the vehicles.
• Northwood Civic Association will meet on Tuesday, July 15, at 7 p.m., at St. James Lutheran Church, at Castor Avenue and Pratt Street. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com