UNC Hospitals is fighting the right of a medical institution in Cary to establish and own a new prostate cancer care center.
Cary Urology wants the new center to be built in southeast Raleigh, where its medical officials say it can better benefit the region’s black men — a demographic that has a one in four chance of getting prostate cancer.
The center would offer screening, high-tech radiation and outreach support systems for those affected by prostate cancer, said Dr. Kevin Khoudary, who is leading the project at Cary Urology.
Cary Urology and UNC Hospitals applied for ownership of the health center in April of last year, said Karen McCall, vice president of public affairs and marketing at the UNC Hospitals.
Cary Urology was approved by the state as owner in September of last year. But UNC Hospitals appealed the decision a month later, McCall said.
Khoudary said he thinks UNC Hospitals applied only for competitive reasons — the Rex Cancer Center at its sister hospital in Raleigh has developed treatment of prostate cancer.
“I do not think they truly have a desire to have a prostate center,” Khoudary said.
McCall declined to comment on behalf of the UNC Hospitals, citing litigation concerns.
Khoudary said he informed the state of the need for the center because of North Carolina’s high prostate cancer mortality rates, especially in black men.