VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital unveils Southern Virginia’s only radiation therapy machine
Varian HyperSight TrueBeam radiation therapy system expands the range of treatable cancers with improved image quality, precision and speed while minimizing patient discomfort.
June 12, 2025
Leaders from VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital, alongside donors and local officials, cut the ribbon on the HyperSight TrueBeam machine, providing cutting-edge cancer care in southern Virginia. (VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center)
By Bill Potter
Cancer patients in southern Virginia now have a new, high-powered tool to assist in their cancer fights, as leadership from VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center and VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital came together to celebrate the addition of the Varian HyperSight TrueBeam radiation therapy system on Wednesday at the Solari Radiation Therapy Center in South Hill.
“With the installation of the Varian HyperSight TrueBeam radiation therapy system — the only one of its kind in Southern Virginia — we’re taking a major step forward in how we care for patients facing cancer,” said Sheldon Barr, MBA, MSN, president of VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital.
“This technology is more than installing a new machine. It’s about expanding the range of cancers we can treat with improved image quality, precision, and speed while minimizing patient discomfort. It’s about saving lives, and opening the door for future innovation, all while keeping patients closer to home and their support systems.”
The Varian HyperSight TrueBeam machine allows doctors to better administer treatment to tumor cells and avoid surrounding healthy tissue. (VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center)
The HyperSight TrueBeam machine offers flexible, high-precision treatment options for a broad range of patient needs and allows for larger, quicker and better overall imaging of the tumor environment, thereby allowing doctors to better administer treatment to tumor cells while avoiding surrounding healthy tissue.
The introduction of the TrueBeam reflects Massey’s mission to reduce the state cancer burden for all Virginians by making cutting-edge care more accessible for all communities, said Robert A. Winn, M.D., director of VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center and Lipman Chair in Oncology at Massey.
“One of the first steps toward beating cancer is having access to life-saving treatments where you live," Winn said. "I'm thrilled that we can bring an option for radiation therapy to southern Virginia as part of our commitment to ensuring that our patients in rural communities receive the highest standard of care.”
Timothy J. Wallace, M.D., Ph.D., who leads radiation oncology at CMH, added, “patients do not have to sacrifice travel time for care. The same level of cancer-treating technology and care exists in South Hill as it does in Richmond.”
The addition of the HyperSight TrueBeam therapy system is one of a number of ways that Massey is leading the way in cancer treatment across the commonwealth, joining the MRIdian ViewRay technology and High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) among the revolutionary ways the center is taking on cancer.
Learn more about cancer care at VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital
