National Cancer Institute Selects Cancer Program of OLOL and MBPCC for Nationwide Cancer Care Initiative

Enhancing Care for Patients

(Baton Rouge, La.) The National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, selected The Cancer Program of Our Lady of the Lake and Mary Bird Perkins to continue participation in its national network of community cancer centers. A member of the NCI Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP) since 2007, the Cancer Program was awarded $777,853 to fund participation in the NCCCP network for the program’s next two years.

“NCCCP is an important national initiative helping to enhance cancer care for patients throughout the country,” said Renea Duffin, NCCCP Principal Investigator for The Cancer Program of Our Lady of the Lake and Mary Bird Perkins. “We are proud to continue—in partnership with the other 20 sites—building a roadmap that will help other community cancer centers throughout the country provide exceptional care—close to home, where people can access it easily.”

NCCCP collaboration has helped the Cancer Program launch or enhance many of its programs, including survivorship services, early phase clinical trials, screenings for disparate populations and multidisciplinary cancer care teams that focus on brain, colorectal, lung and head and neck cancers.

The NCCCP is a collaborative network of community hospitals working to: expand cancer research, enhance access to cancer care, and improve the quality of care for cancer patients served by community hospitals in urban, suburban and rural areas, with an emphasis on underserved populations. The majority of U.S. cancer patients are diagnosed with and treated for the disease in their local communities, where they can remain closer to home rather than commute to major academic medical centers.  The NCCCP network has served approximately 53,000 new cancer cases each year.

The Cancer Program has participated in NCCCP since it launched in 2007 as a pilot program comprised of 16 community hospitals.  The NCCCP added 14 additional sites to the network in 2010 and funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allowed the 30 NCCCP hospitals to compete for a program extension. Twenty-one of them were awarded funds to continue program participation from July 2012-June 2014. The Cancer Program’s selection ensures that the NCCCP network’s ongoing efforts to offer state-of-the-art coordinated care and to create national research opportunities locally will continue to be addressed in Baton Rouge and the 11 surrounding parishes.

With a major focus on reducing cancer healthcare disparities, the 21 NCCCP community hospitals will continue efforts to enhance patient access to the latest, evidence-based cancer care, improve the overall quality of care, and expand research opportunities across the cancer continuum.  The Cancer Program’s continued participation in the program helps to support NCI’s overall mission of accelerating cancer research and improving outcomes for cancer patients across the U.S.

“The goal of NCCCP is accessible, high quality care for everyone, whether they live near a major academic cancer center or in a more rural population, among other factors. And through NCCCP collaboration, we are enhancing the experience of patients here in Baton Rouge and throughout the country to bring this goal to fruition,” said Duffin.

The complete list of NCCCP community hospitals, effective 7/1/2012:

Community Hospitals

• Billings Clinic, Billings, Montana (Billings Clinic Cancer Center)
• Christiana Care Health System, Newark, Delaware (Helen F. Graham Cancer Center at Christiana Care)
• Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Einstein Cancer Center)
• Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, Pennsylvania (Geisinger Cancer Institute)
• Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin (Gundersen Lutheran Center for Cancer & Blood Disorders)
• Hartford Hospital, Hartford, Connecticut  (Helen & Harry Gray Cancer Center)
• Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, Pennsylvania  (John and Dorothy Morgan Cancer Center)
• Mercy Medical Center, Des Moines, Iowa  (Mercy Cancer Center)
• Northside Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia  (The Northside Hospital Cancer Institute)
• Norton Suburban Hospital, Louisville, Kentucky  (Norton Cancer Institute)
• Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana  (Cancer Program of Our Lady of the Lake and Mary Bird Perkins)
• The Queen’s Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii  (The Queen’s Cancer Center)
• Saint Mary’s Health Care, Grand Rapids, Michigan  (Lacks Cancer Center)
• Sanford USD Medical Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota  (Sanford Cancer Center)
• Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, Spartanburg, South Carolina  (Gibbs Regional Cancer Center)
• Joseph’s/Candler,  Savannah, Georgia  (Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer and Research Pavilion)
• Joseph Hospital, Orange, California  (The Center for Cancer Prevention and Treatment)

Health System
Catholic Health Initiatives, Denver, Colorado, for the following hospitals:

• Penrose – St. Francis Health Services, Colorado Springs, Colorado (Penrose Cancer Center)
• A coordinated regional program in Nebraska:
  • Good Samaritan Hospital, Kearney, NE  (Good Samaritan Cancer Center)
  • Elizabeth Regional Medical Center, Lincoln, NE  (St. Elizabeth Cancer Center)
  • Francis Medical Center, Grand Island, NE  (St. Francis Cancer Treatment Center)

For more information about the NCCCP network, visit ncccp.cancer.gov.

The Cancer Program of Our Lady of the Lake and Mary Bird Perkins is the most comprehensive cancer program in the region offering patients the convenience of receiving high-quality, advanced cancer care in one location, close to home. The Cancer Program offers surgery, chemotherapy and radiation and has been accredited by The American College of Surgeons since 1992 – the gold-standard for community-based cancer care. This program is a participant in the prestigious National Cancer Institute (NCI) Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP). For more information on our cancer program and the NCCCP, please visit www.ololrmc.com or www.marybird.org.