A diagnosis of cancer is a devastating event in a person’s life that raises numerous questions and requires critical decisions to be made. What is the best treatment for my disease? Will I have access to the latest treatment available? How can I get the best care? And, most important, will I survive?
The place to go to for answers and the best hope for survival is just around the corner.
On Monday, Jan. 29, [2001] the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance outpatient clinic will open, the final phase in a more than two year, multiphase process, bringing to the area one of the most state-of-the-art cancer-care clinics in the nation. The Alliance combines the strengths of three of the best oncology organizations in the Pacific Northwest, making it the “host” for the cancer-care services delivered by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of Washington and Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center.
Through the Alliance, patients will have access to the latest research-based cancer therapies being developed by its partner organizations, including treatments for a number of malignant and non-malignant diseases and disorders. Patients will receive their care from experts with years of oncology-care experience. Supporting this care is the latest technology available for treating people with cancer.
Some patients currently undergoing treatment at the Hutchinson Center, UW Medical Center or Children’s will transfer to the newly built outpatient clinic located on the Hutchinson Center’s south Lake Union campus. Alliance inpatients will be admitted for care to one of three Alliance units located in the UW Medical Center or Children’s.
The Alliance inpatient units have been operational for some time. The pediatric inpatient unit opened in July 1999 and adult units at the UW opened in mid-2000. The outpatient clinic is the final phase of the Alliance opening.
The primary goal of the Alliance is to be one of the world’s finest clinical cancer-care programs. However, another important focus of the Alliance will be to work collaboratively with regional providers to improve the transfer of new diagnostic and treatment techniques from clinical research settings to the community. A component of this effort will include enhancing opportunities for physicians to initiate and conduct clinical research trials. These collaborations, and the highly integrated approach to cancer research and treatment through the Alliance, will help speed the flow of scientific information between researchers, clinicians and patients, and accelerate the development of new knowledge of, and treatment for, various cancers.
The Alliance is a natural outgrowth of the combined efforts of the partner organizations. During the past 25 years the Hutchinson Center, UW and Children’s have had long-standing relationships supporting their respective missions of oncology research, patient care and education.
