By Mike Underwood
The Boston Herald
Copyright 2007 Boston Herald Inc.
BROCKTON, Mass. — A doctor was killed when an elderly woman lost control of her car and smashed through the front door of Brockton Hospital’s radiation therapy department, pinning the victim to the front desk.
Chief of radiation oncology Dr. Mark A. Vasa, 58, of Norwell, died at the hospital after yesterday’s 1:27 p.m. accident, according to hospital spokesman Rob Brogna.
Five other people were injured, including the 76-year-old driver, although the extent of their injuries were not known.
One person was taken by a MedFlight helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital with ``internal crushing’’ injuries, Capt. Victor Parziale of the Brockton Fire Department told the Herald.
``It was horrible,’' Parziale said. ``When we got there, the injured were all pinned under a desk (by the car).’'
The names of the driver and the other employees injured in the accident were not released.
Only the radiation therapy wing was affected by the accident. All other hospital services, including the emergency department, were still operating, Brogna said.
``It’s an awful tragedy,` Brockton Mayor James E. Harrington said. ``A person coming to work for the day and being the victim of a freak accident is just tragic. Our sympathies go out to the family and to the hospital family who are in shock over this.’'
Brockton police would not release any information about the incident. State police crash reconstruction teams were at the scene last night.
Twenty firefighters responded to the accident. Some of the injured were treated in the hospital’s emergency room, which is next-door to the radiation department.
In May 2007, Vasa was inducted as a Fellow into the American College of Radiology in Washington, D.C.
He joined Brockton Hospital’s Radiation Oncology Department in 1987 and was later promoted to chief radiation oncologist. In that position he oversaw the daily operations of the department.