Women with Breast and Gynecologic Cancers Gain a Powerful Ally

Woman’s Hospital and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center Move Forward on Partnership

(Baton Rouge, La.) Woman’s Hospital (Woman’s) and Mary Bird Perkins – Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center (Cancer Center) have partnered to increase access to cancer care for women battling breast and gynecologic (GYN) cancers. This partnership blends the recognized expertise of each organization in caring for women with cancer to deliver the most advanced, coordinated care throughout Baton Rouge and neighboring parishes. This new system of care has many benefits to patients, including increased access to physician specialists, additional treatment options, and the latest clinical trials as well as enhanced support and survivorship programs. The partnership will extend resources to physicians, nurses and many other cancer care professionals to build stronger, more collaborative and individualized patient care plans to treat people who have been diagnosed with breast or gynecologic cancers. The partners are presently focused on expanding services to care for people with breast and gynecologic cancers on the Woman’s Hospital campus. The Breast and GYN Cancer Pavilion, which will be located on Woman’s campus, is scheduled for completion in the early spring of 2018. This facility will offer a comprehensive array of cancer services, including diagnostic services, outpatient surgery, infusion (chemotherapy), radiation therapy, clinical trials and physician offices. As a result, patients will continue to have the choice to access any of these services at the new Breast and GYN Cancer Pavilion or at Mary Bird Perkins – Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center’s main campus on Essen Lane. Infusion, imaging, and clinical trials are also available at the LSU Health Baton Rouge North Clinic on Airline Highway in north Baton Rouge. Laboratory services will be added to the clinic in November 2017. While the Cancer Center and Woman’s have partnered for many years through breast cancer early detection efforts, mainly mobile mammography, this initiative defines a higher level of care and access for women.  “This partnership is based on a long, rich, shared history of enhancing care to women with breast or GYN cancers,” said Teri Fontenot, president and CEO of Woman’s Hospital. “The Cancer Center and Woman’s are collectively caring for women, as well as offering new resources that will impact breast and GYN cancer care for generations to come.” “Putting cancer patients and their families first is the heart of our mission, which is solely focused on improving survivorship and lessening the burden of cancer,” said Todd D. Stevens, president and CEO of Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center.  “We know first-hand that at every level – locally, statewide and nationally – collaboration improves cancer outcomes, from the most common to the most complex diagnoses.  Deepening and strengthening our partnership with Woman’s is a natural next step in being able to do more, together, to help people who have been diagnosed with breast or GYN cancers.” Because of the complexities involved in cancer care, the partnership has also established breast and GYN cancer multidisciplinary care teams (MDC), focusing on implementing gold-standard care at every stage, ranging from diagnosis through survivorship. MDC teams include radiation and medical oncologists, radiologists, surgeons and other key specialists to ensure the highest continuity of care. Another exciting aspect of the new partnership is the ability to offer access to National Cancer Institute clinical trials for breast and GYN cancers including studies for prevention, screening, treatment and survivorship. For more information on Woman’s and the Cancer Center’s breast and GYN partnership, please visit www.sisterhoodstrong.org About Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center As a regional destination for cancer care, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center offers the most advanced technology and services provided by a dedicated team of nationally-recognized oncology experts. The Cancer Center provides best-practice, comprehensive care at every stage of the cancer journey, including disease site-specific multidisciplinary care teams, a robust clinical research program, extensive supportive care services and is the only facility in the Gulf South with the revolutionary Leksell Gamma Knife®Icon™. As a nonprofit organization, donor generosity is essential to sustaining the mission of improving survivorship and lessening the burden of cancer for so many throughout Southeast Louisiana and beyond. For more information on the Cancer Center, and how you can become involved, please visit marybirdlake.org. About Woman’s Hospital Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is one of the first specialty hospitals for women and infants. Since opening in 1968, it has welcomed more than 300,000 babies, making it one of the largest delivery services in the country and the largest in Louisiana. Additionally, Woman’s operates the highest-level neonatal intensive care unit in the state and cares for infants who are extremely premature, are critically ill or require surgical intervention. The hospital is also recognized for its expertise in mammography as well as breast and gynecologic cancer care. As a private, nonprofit organization, all funds are reinvested into the hospital to continue Woman’s mission to improve the health of women and infants through the latest technology, a highly qualified staff and critical community programs and services. For more information, visit www.womans.org.