Regional Cancer Center Receives $2.7 Million National Cancer Institute Grant
Funding Will Expand Cancer Research and Care For Underserved
The ProHealth Care Regional Cancer Center at Waukesha Memorial Hospital is among 14 hospitals to receive a grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, to expand its cancer research program, supportive care services and provide state-of-the-art cancer care to underserved populations.
"This grant is a testament to the progressive and talented group of physicians and staff who have developed the Regional Cancer Center into a national model," said Barbara Mathison, executive director of ProHealth Care's Regional Cancer Center.
"The timing of this $2.7 million award is perfect," said Richard Hansen, M.D., physician director for the grant. "It will allow us to move cancer care forward in our community in such critical areas including survivorship, palliative care, clinical research, biospecimens, disparities in health care and cancer bioinformatics. These areas are established priorities by our Regional Cancer Center leadership team, and this grant provides the additional financial and benchmark resources to expedite improvements."
The NCI Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP) is using $40 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to expand its number of community hospital-based sites from 16 to 30.
NCCCP is designed to create new research opportunities across the cancer continuum from screening and treatment to follow-up care, with an emphasis on minority and underserved populations. Expanding the NCCCP network will provide access to more patients in community cancer centers to support these research efforts.
"We are very grateful for this opportunity to network and partner with other progressive cancer centers across the country through the NCCCP offered by the National Cancer Institute," said Tim Wassenaar, M.D., principal investigator for the NCCCP grant with the Regional Cancer Center.
Joining the NCCCP network will provide additional resources for Waukesha Memorial to improve early detection, screening, clinical trial enrollment and navigating quality cancer care among Hispanic and rural populations, which will build on existing ProHealth Care Community Outreach programs.
"We are honored to be selected to work with the NCCCP and National Cancer Institute to improve the care of cancer patients in our community and nationally," said Ed Olson, president, Waukesha Memorial Hospital.
Patients will also have greater access to NCI-sponsored treatment trials for five common cancer types, including breast, kidney, colorectal, lung and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Clinical trials offer patients access to promising new cancer treatments before they are available to the general public.
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- Posted April 22, 2010