OhioHealth Marion General Hospital Invests in Robotic-Assisted Technology to Improve Lung Cancer Detection and Treatment

OhioHealth Marion General Hospital is now utilizing robotic-assisted technology to improve lung cancer detection and treatment for patients from Marion and surrounding communities. It’s the first time Marion General Hospital has been able to provide this type of care for local patients. 

Ion is a specialized piece of equipment used to diagnose lung cancer that uses a robot-assisted biopsy of the lung. 

This addition to Marion General Hospital helps patients access high-level care close to home. Before Ion was available at Marion General Hospital, patients would have to travel to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center to have this procedure done. 

The Ion has high accuracy rates, and it significantly reduces the risk of lung collapse. It’s also an efficient procedure. Both lungs can be viewed at the same time in one procedure. The Ion also allows for the smallest tumors to be biopsied. 

“This is another example of our commitment to keep care close to home for the community we serve,” said Jim Parobek, president of Marion General Hospital. 

“This investment in our Marion community is going to save lives by detecting cancer earlier,” said Pam Napier, director of the Oncology Center and Cath Lab at Marion General Hospital. “Without this, you must wait until the nodule is large enough to biopsy. Now we can test it at stage 1 and if you diagnose the cancer at stage 1 it’s treatable and potentially curable.” 

Harsh Shah, MD is a pulmonologist who was instrumental in bringing the technology to Marion General Hospital. 

“I’m happy to deliver this care closer to the patients who need it and help them get a lung cancer diagnosis earlier. The earlier it’s diagnosed hopefully it can be cured,” Dr. Shah said. 

Marion General Hospital was the second OhioHealth hospital to get Ion and the third in central Ohio. Grant Medical Center started using it in September of 2022. There, Dr. Shah has treated nearly 400 patients to date. 

According to Dr. Shah, nearly 40% of the patients treated with Ion at Grant Medical Center had traveled from areas north of Columbus, like Marion, Mansfield, Bucyrus. He said nearly half of those patients were from Marion County alone. 

“We want to catch lung cancer earlier with lower risk procedures, and this lets us do that,” Dr. Shah said. 

“It is wonderful to be able to provide this level of care close to home for our patients in Marion County,” said Lucinda Pfeifer, oncology program manager at the Marion Cancer Center. “Many of our patients don’t have the ability to travel to Columbus for this type of procedure. I’m glad we now can offer it here at Marion General Hospital.” 

This investment is also a result of the work done by the Marion General Hospital Foundation’s Marion Cancer Center Fund, which was created to meet the needs of patients by providing state-of-the-art equipment, cutting edge techniques, and supporting patients through services and programs. 

“The foundation board is excited to help bring this technology to our patients in the Marion community,” said Beth Meadows, advisor for philanthropy at Marion General Hospital. “This is a great example of the work we do to offer high-level care close to home.” 

To donate to the Marion Cancer Center Fund visit: www.ohiohealth.com/marionmakeagift. 

The new equipment arrived at Marion General on March 5th and the Ion was up and running by the first week of April.