The Georgia Department of Community Health has approved a certificate-of-need that will allow Gordon Hospital to begin offering radiation therapy by mid-2011.

The certificate-of-need, which was approved just before Christmas, will allow Gordon Hospital to install a linear accelerator at its campus, 1035 Red Bud Road.

The new service will allow cancer patients to receive advanced radiation therapy closer to home, said hospital CEO Pete Weber.

“Today you have to drive to Cartersville to receive radiation treatments. Soon, you will be able to drive right to Gordon Hospital,” Weber said. “Obviously, we are tickled to death.”

Weber said Gordon Hospital was among three hospitals in Northwest Georgia hoping to add radiation therapy. Those other hospitals — in Ellijay and Jasper — have 30 days to appeal the state’s decision to award the certificate-of-need to Gordon Hospital.

“If there is no appeal, we can move forward at the end of the 30-day period,” he said.

Georgia’s health planning statute requires hospitals to apply for certificates-of-need for new procedures and equipment to avoid duplication of expensive health care services, equipment and facilities.

It will take about 18 months to build the new facility and install the linear accelerator, Weber said. While the planning is not complete, he said the accelerator would probably be installed in a freestanding building on the Gordon Hospital campus.

“Technically, this is a difficult installation,” he said earlier. “We will need eight feet of concrete and 18 inches of steel shielding around the accelerator.”

The total project will cost an estimated $7.012 million, according to the Department of Community Health.

The new equipment is just part of the changes that Gordon Hospital has announced to improve cancer treatment.

The hospital is currently installing digital mammography equipment.

“We have such an incredible facility in this community,” Weber said. “We are a small hospital, but we have great specialists and services.”