The NIU-backed, $159 million proton therapy center poses no financial risk to the university, its director said Tuesday.

“There is no financial tie at all between NIU and [the center],” said John L. Lewis, executive director of Northern Illinois Proton Treatment and Research Center, LLC (NIPTRC). “Northern has no responsibility for this project. NIU is assisting and supporting the project, but not making an investment. NIPTRC is a separate limited-liability corporation that is individual to the university.”

Though NIPTRC is separate from the university, it is led by a seven-member Board of Managers that includes four NIU officials, among them Lewis, Provost Ray Alden, Board of Trustees chair Cherilyn Murer and Eddie Williams, executive vice president for business and finance and chief of operations.

FINANCIAL QUESTIONS

The center is being financed by tax-exempt bonds issued by the Illinois Finance Authority, which must ultimately be paid back by NIPTRC, Murer said.

The Illinois Finance Authority is a self-financed state authority which issues taxable and tax-exempt bonds for businesses, non-profit corporations, agriculture and local government units statewide, according to its Web site.

NIPTRC plans to pay back the bonds with the revenue from treating patients, Lewis said. In the event the center does not generate enough revenue to pay back the bonds, NIPTRC “would have to default” on the bonds, but NIU would still not stand any risk, Lewis added.

Acquisition of the bonds included application and closing fees. Lewis said both were paid by NIPTRC, though he could not confirm the exact amounts of the fees.

NEXT-DOOR COMPETITION

The proton center is being constructed 35 miles west of Chicago in the DuPage National Technology Park. Though Central DuPage Hospital is constructing a similar proton center just six miles away, NIPTRC’s financial viability in an unstable economic climate is not a matter of pressing concern, Lewis said.

“We wouldn’t commit to this if we didn’t think it was going to succeed,” he said.

The proton center is scheduled to open in early 2010, while DuPage’s is scheduled to open in early 2011. They would be the only two proton therapy centers in the state.

The NIPTRC project is “about on schedule,” Lewis said.

NIPTRC and DuPage have discussed a joint venture, but no compromise has been met.

“We’ve had three meetings recently with them, but we couldn’t find a middle ground,” Lewis said.

Despite the close proximity of the centers, Lewis believes a combination of time and proper marketing will make the project a financial success for NIPTRC.

“It’s going to take a lot more marketing dollars [competing with another center], but we are moving forward and committed to the schedule,” he said.