Tampa General Hospital and Mass General Brigham Announce First Joint Venture to Open Radiation Oncology Center in Palm Beach County

The state-of-the-art center will offer the most advanced approach to radiation oncology. 

TAMPA, Fla., March 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Tampa General Hospital (TGH) and Boston-based Mass General Brigham (MGB), two of the nation's leading health care systems, today announced they will open a radiation oncology center, offering a new option for world-class cancer care to Floridians throughout Palm Beach County. The new radiation oncology center will enhance patient care, improve health care access, and offer the most advanced medical technology and a coordinated patient experience, particularly as it relates to radiation oncology. Together, TGH and MGB will leverage their combined wealth of clinical expertise and medical innovation to offer an integrated, patient-centered approach, where each patient's journey is tailored for their specific needs and embraces all aspects of their health.

"This new center represents a significant evolution in the partnership between TGH and MGB, as we continue to execute our overall strategy to transform health care through innovation and collaboration with the nation's leading providers and physician-scientists," said John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General. "By joining forces once again, TGH and MGB will ensure that residents on the East Coast of Florida and beyond have access to world-class cancer care from two of the nation's preeminent academic health systems."

Under the partnership, TGH and MGB will open a 10,000-square-foot, co-branded and jointly owned radiation oncology center at Legacy Place in Palm Beach Gardens. TGH will manage day-to-day operations, while MGB Radiation Oncology will provide expert quality and safety oversight. The collaboration applies the tenets of academic medicine, as MGB and TGH will together create a robust, integrated team of experts to counter all patient needs across the spectrum of care, from physicians and dosimetrists to patient advocates and administrators. All members of the team will cross-collaborate, share and support each other to deliver the highest-quality, responsive and customized care for each patient. TGH is MGB's first national clinical affiliation, and the two have worked closely together for more than three years.

"As cancer rates continue to rise across the country at an alarming rate, so too has our ability to diagnose, treat and improve outcomes across many different levels of disease," said Ron Walls, MD, Chief Operating Officer of Mass General Brigham. "We are so pleased to further our partnership with Tampa General Hospital, and this new center represents our shared goal to eradicate cancer in the most meaningful and innovative ways possible."

According to the Florida Department of Health, for more than a decade, cancer has been the second leading cause of death in Florida, after heart disease. Additionally, Florida has the second highest cancer burden in the nation with an average of 115,000 new cancers diagnosed and reported each year.

"As we look to provide the most innovative, patient-centric cancer care possible across Florida, this new center and elevated collaboration with MGB is critical to achieving this goal," said Abe Schwarzberg, MD, executive vice president and chief of Oncology at Tampa General and president of Tampa General Provider Network. "We've already seen how our collaboration can benefit the patients we serve, and by working alongside MGB to provide our patients with access to the expertise, experience and research findings from two of the top academic health systems, we have the potential to make a significant impact on their treatment outcomes."

"This exciting partnership represents a significant milestone in our growing collaboration between Mass General Brigham and Tampa General Hospital, expanding between our two academic medical centers and sharing a common mission of improving access to cutting-edge, research informed and high-quality care," said Daphne Haas-Kogan, MD, radiation oncologist-in-chief for Mass General Brigham Cancer. "This achievement is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our incredible team, who, over the past two years, has built relationships, traveled, and meticulously crafted the framework for this collaboration."

The new center, located in the 11000 block of Legacy Avenue in Palm Beach Gardens, will open for patient care in early 2026.

ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL
Tampa General Hospital, a 981-bed, not-for-profit, academic health system, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the region's only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News & World Report's 2024-25 Best Hospitals, with eight specialties ranking among the top 50 best hospital programs in the United States. Tampa General Hospital has been designated as a model of excellence by the 2022 Fortune/Merative 100 Top Hospitals list. The academic health system's commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by three prestigious Forbes magazine rankings – in the top 100 nationally in the 2024 America's Best Large Employers, the 2023 America's Best Employers for Women, and the top 25 in Florida in the 2023 America's Best Employers by State. Tampa General is the safety net hospital for the region, caring for everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and in fiscal year 2022, provided a net community benefit of approximately $240.3 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education, and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is one of the nation's busiest adult solid organ transplant centers and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With six medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center, and its 32-bed Neuroscience, Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It also is home to the Muma Children's Hospital at TGH, the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General Hospital's footprint includes TGH North, which is comprised of three hospitals and several outpatient locations in Citrus and Hernando counties, 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, TGH Outpatient Center, TGH Virtual Health, and 21 TGH Imaging outpatient radiology centers throughout Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Palm Beach counties. Tampa Bay area residents also receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track network of clinics. To see a medical care professional live anytime, anywhere on a smartphone, tablet or computer, visit Virtual Health | Tampa General Hospital (tgh.org). As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa General Hospital is the first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open a clinical command center that provides real-time situational awareness to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower cost. For more information, go to www.tgh.org. 

ABOUT MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM
Mass General Brigham is an integrated academic health care system, uniting great minds to solve the hardest problems in medicine for our communities and the world. Mass General Brigham connects a full continuum of care across a system of academic medical centers, community and specialty hospitals, a health insurance plan, physician networks, community health centers, home care, and long-term care services. Mass General Brigham is a nonprofit organization committed to patient care, research, teaching, and service to the community. In addition, Mass General Brigham is one of the nation's leading biomedical research organizations with several Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals. For more information, please visit www.massgeneralbrigham.org.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tampa-general-hospital-and-mass-general-brigham-announce-first-joint-venture-to-open-radiation-oncology-center-in-palm-beach-county-302398854.html

SOURCE Tampa General Hospital