February 2011 The online News Magazine of Saint Mary’s Health Care

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Clinical Excellence –

Improving Cancer Care Continues Through NCCCP

April 2010 – We Joined the NCCCP to Improve Cancer Care Around the Nation

The Lacks Cancer Center at Saint Mary’s joined the program in April 2010 as one of 14 new sites selected by the NCI to offer expanded research and state-of-the-art cancer care. The NCCCP has received $40 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to expand its former number of 16 sites to 30 sites.

NCCCP centers are addressing ways to reduce healthcare disparities, improve access to clinical trials, improve overall quality of care, promote an infrastructure to collect high-quality biospecimens such as blood and tissue samples for research, and link with national computer networks that support research.

The centers also work to improve survivorship, palliative care services, and patient advocacy. This program is studying ways for patients to have access to the latest, evidence-based care close to where they live. In fact, 85 percent of patients are diagnosed, and receive at least their first course of treatment, at a community hospital, like The Lacks Cancer Center.

Six deliverables comprise the program:

• Healthcare Disparities – Lead: Susan Hoppough, PhD, RN and David Luna, JD
• Clinical Trials – Lead: Thomas Gribbin, MD
• Information Technology- Co-leads: Gregory Forzley, MD, FAACP and Bill VanDoornik
• Biospecimens – Lead: J. Stephen Ebrom, MD
• Quality of Care – Lead: Larry McCahill, MD
• Survivorship and Palliative Care – Co-leads: Colleen Tallen, MD and Chris Werkema, RN, MS, OCN, AOCN

Each deliverable, or pillar, has been assigned a lead who will represent and supervise their area of expertise to ensure that they will fulfill their promise as an NCCCP pilot site.

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