Charleston, Dec 13, 2005 -

Under an effort to work more closely together, the Medical University of South Carolina and the Department of Veterans Affairs said Monday they have agreed to share $7 million worth of high-tech equipment to treat cancer and other problems. While it's a relatively small deal, the agreement goes to the heart of a much bigger collaborative proposal: the possibility of MUSC and the VA building a joint-use hospital together in Charleston.

No deal is imminent, but officials have been studying their options, which are spelled out in a new report.

At most, the two institutions could team up to build a $546 million medical facility with nearly 1.2 million square feet and 355 beds in two separate patient towers, according to a report by a group of top MUSC and VA officials who have been studying the issue for months.

The report was presented to two congressmen, Rep. Henry Brown, R-S.C., and Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., as well as Jonathan Perlin, the VA's undersecretary for health.

The study was not released to the public, but the Post and Courier obtained a copy Monday. In it, the agencies analyzed six options for a joint facility, their costs, advantages and disadvantages.

"There's not just one way to skin this cat," said Dr. Ray Greenberg, MUSC president, who was co-chairman of the study group with Michael Moreland, director of the VA hospital in Pittsburgh.

"There are multiple ways to get to a co-located facility," Greenberg said.

MUSC and the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston have long had a close relationship. For instance, VA physicians are MUSC faculty members. Also, the agencies operate a research building together and share $13.7 million in various services.

The two have been in talks about building a joint facility ever since the university began planning its new hospital, the first phase of which is under construction and is set to open in less than two years.

Brown and Buyer injected life into those discussions three months ago.

They believe that a joint facility could provide a model the federal government can use to replace its aging VA hospitals, including its facility in New Orleans that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

"This is brand-new ground we're plowing," Brown said.

The threat hurricanes pose also may bring into question when the federal government might be willing to take this step. Already, the VA system has two facilities it needs to replace along the Gulf Coast.

Nevertheless, officials believe that, at the very least, MUSC and the VA could work more closely together.

Thus the equipment deal, in which the VA agreed to purchase angiography equipment - an angiography uses X-rays to examine blood vessels - and another state-of-the-art TomoTherapy device to be used in cancer treatment at MUSC.

The Wisconsin-made TomoTherapy machine includes a scanner that takes a picture of the tumor while a linear accelerator treats the growth with radiation, reducing the damage to surrounding tissue.

"This is a small piece of what we hope will be a model that could be done across the country," Buyer said.

That model would be the joint facility. Under the most far-reaching option, the VA would build a hospital with two towers, one with 84 beds for the VA and another with 271 beds for MUSC, with shared space in between.

MUSC, in return, would pay $35 million a year in lease fees.

Other options scale down that proposal. Under one scenario, MUSC would build its own space. Another option calls for a smaller 120-bed facility in the MUSC tower.

A fourth alternative would keep the existing VA hospital intact, adding only a 1,300-space parking garage to meet the hospital's needs.

Federal officials consider the Charleston VA hospital adequate and wouldn't be considering a replacement without MUSC's participation.

The report now goes to Perlin and his superiors for review. Officials believe they will ultimately ask the committee for more study. How long it could take for a recommendation is uncertain.

"The wheels of government don't move fast," Brown said.