SAN FRANCISCO – The Martin-O’Neil Cancer Center at St. Helena Hospital and the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCSF Medical Center have begun an affiliation that will provide North Bay patients with access to clinical research trials and express referrals to cancer specialists through a convenient Napa Valley location.

 

The affiliation, initially set for five years, enhances the services of the Martin-O’Neil Cancer Center by providing coordinated access to a comprehensive array of services available at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, which is one of the nation’s largest clinical and research cancer programs.

St. Helena Hospital began treating patients in November in a newly built, $16.6 million state-of-the-art cancer center that provides medical, radiation and surgical oncology in one location.

 

The overarching goal of the UCSF collaboration is to improve access to high quality, evidence-based care for patients from throughout the North Bay, said St. Helena Hospital President/CEO Terry Newmyer.

 

“Our affiliation with UCSF, which is a top 10 cancer research academic center, is part of the Martin-O’Neil Cancer Center’s commitment to ensure our patients receive the best care possible,” he said. “We will now provide patients in the North Bay counties with access to numerous clinical research trials and referrals to UCSF cancer sub-specialists otherwise not available locally.”

 

As part of the collaboration, cancer physicians from St. Helena Hospital will have the opportunity to review select cases at the UCSF interdisciplinary tumor boards to determine the best course of treatment and assure patient access to the most advanced therapies.

Physicians at St. Helena Hospital will receive current information on UCSF’s cancer clinical trials and plans are underway to have a designated liaison to facilitate enrollment of appropriate patients into UCSF trials. In addition, the two organizations will work together to develop a symposium on cancer prevention and treatment for consumers and physicians in Napa Valley.

 

"This exciting collaboration reflects UCSF’s mission to make its high-level health care broadly available to people in northern California," said Mark R. Laret, CEO of UCSF Medical Center. “We anticipate that the affiliation will be highly beneficial to patients, and hope that it will serve as an example for future collaborative efforts between other hospitals and UCSF that strive to improve cancer prevention and treatment.”

 

The UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center was designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 1999 in recognition of the highest level of excellence in both its scientific research and its ability to integrate diverse research approaches to focus on the problem of cancer and improve patient outcomes.

The center ranks first in California and seventh nationwide in NCI research grants and is home to pioneers in research into genetic, cellular and immune system causes and responses to cancer.

For more information, visit www.cancer.ucsf.edu .