She was unprepared to hear the phrase, “You have cancer.”
Arete Tsoukalas was just 23 years old when she was diagnosed with leukemia. Luckily, her medical team at Community Health Network was able to travel to work with oncologists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, receiving a cutting edge treatment that saved her life.
Still, the she would have liked to access that level of comfort while remaining close to home, she said during a Community Health Network announcement on April 28.
“The truth is, it’s not easy to find yourself in a foreign city all of the sudden undergoing treatment. Even if you can get on a plane to Houston, making living arrangements for an indefinite number of months can be a source of great strain, both financially and emotionally,” she said. “It often falls on the shoulders of the caregivers.”
Moving forward, patients such as Tsoukalas will have that opportunity. Community Health Network, including Community Cancer Care South, will be part of a comprehensive clinical and research cancer program collaboration with MD Anderson Cancer Center, considered one of the most respected cancer care centers in the world.
The partnership, announced during an event Thursday, will be known as Community MD Anderson Cancer Center. Patients will have access to some of the most advance oncology available, including clinical trials and research studies that offer hope against the deadliest of cancers, all near their homes.
“We do believe that care should be closest to home,” said Dr. Sumeet Bhatia, medical director for oncology at Community Health Network.
Community Health Network and MD Anderson have collaborated for the past nine years. The health care system was part of the MD Anderson Cancer Network, which provided Community with expertise and services from MD Anderson.
This new partnership builds on that relationship, offering patients more access to innovative cancer treatments and peer-to-peer collaboration for local physicians with MD Anderson experts.
“It means we’re fully integrated. We work arm-in-arm with them, taking their science, their know-how, their research, that amazingly they want to share with people like us, to make sure patients can receive the same care as the best place in the world, locally,” said Bryan Mills, president and CEO of Community Health Network.
Patients can also benefit from a centralized scheduling process and ease of access through Community MD Anderson’s commitment to seeing new patients within 48 hours of referral.
Community is now the sixth MD Anderson partner in the country and the only one in the Midwest.
“Over the past decade, Community has really impressed us with their commitment, with their spirit, with their energy, and with the caliber of their people,” said Dr. Peter Pisters, president of MD Anderson. “We’ve been in a bi-directional learning opportunity, as we’ve learned from you, and hopefully you’ve learned from us. Together, we get better over time.”
The Community MD Anderson cancer center at Community Hospital South, located just outside of Johnson County on County Line Road, now will offer comprehensive, multidisciplinary cancer care. Medical teams can deliver high-quality, patient-centered care in medical oncology, radiation oncology, surgery, pathology, diagnostic imaging, and other supportive clinical services.
Patients will have this expanded scope of care within minutes of their home, Bhatia said.
“Really, the goal is keep people from having to go 800 miles for treatment. We don’t want them to have to go eight miles if they don’t have to,” he said.
Tsoukalas understands just how impactful that can be.
“It is a little known fact that sometimes during (chemotherapy), a home-cooked meal can be what separates you from complete despair,” she said. “I believe this partnership will completely alter cancer care in the Midwest.”
