SEATTLE, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The MultiCare Regional Cancer Center
in Tacoma has become the latest member of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
Network. The network provides a structured program for supporting
community-based oncology services such as continuing medical education,
access to clinical trials for local patients through qualified community
researchers and patient management collaboration.
The addition of MultiCare brings to seven the number of community
hospitals and a private medical oncology group that are network members.
The Tacoma cancer program is part of the larger MultiCare organization that
operates four hospitals and numerous clinics and related healthcare
services in Pierce County and parts of south King, Kitsap and Thurston
counties. MultiCare's cancer program opened in 1982.
"The alliance's program to affiliate with community-based oncology
programs recognizes the value in developing partnerships with local
physicians to ultimately benefit patient care," said Benjamin Greer, M.D.,
the network's medical director who leads the gynecological oncology program
at the SCCA. "Part of the SCCA's mission is to enhance the standard of
cancer care regionally and beyond, and we are working to do this
efficiently through the SCCA network of affiliate hospitals."
Among others, the SCCA Network agreements with MultiCare include
working collaboratively with community providers to ensure the availability
of state of the art oncology services in an efficient and effective
setting; supporting the development of community cancer treatment programs;
supporting continuing medical education training for oncology physicians,
nurses and other allied health professionals in the community; and
promoting the availability of research data to support SCCA clinical cancer
research. Patients also will have access to the SCCA's cancer prevention
and survivorship programs.
"The partnership with the SCCA gives our patients the added benefit of
having two excellent cancer treatment programs team up for their future
health," said John Rieke, MD, medical director of the MultiCare Regional
Cancer Center. "It marks a major new era in the growth of the MultiCare
Regional Cancer Center."
The other hospital members of the SCCA Network are Capitol Medical
Center, Olympia; Clinic Cancer Care, Great Falls, Montana; Olympic Medical
Center, Port Angeles; Skagit Valley Hospital, Mount Vernon; and Wenatchee
Valley Medical Center, Wenatchee. Cascade Cancer Center in Kirkland is a
private medical oncology group that is also a network member.
About Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, established in 1998, unites the adult and
pediatric cancer-care services of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center,
UW Medicine and Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center. A major
focus of SCCA is to speed the transfer of new diagnostic and treatment
techniques from the research setting to the patient bedside while providing
premier, patient-focused cancer care. Patients who come to SCCA receive the
latest research-based cancer therapies as well as cutting-edge treatments
for a number of non-malignant diseases under development by its partner
organizations. SCCA has three clinical-care sites: an outpatient clinic on
the Fred Hutchinson campus, a pediatric-inpatient unit at Children's and an
adult-inpatient unit at UW Medical Center. For more information about SCCA,
visit http://www.seattlecca.org.
Media Contact:
Dean Forbes, (206) 667-2896
SOURCE Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
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Related links:
http://www.seattlecca.org
CONTACT:
Dean Forbes, +1-206-667-2896, for Seattle
Cancer Care Alliance
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