Partnering against cancer

A $62.4 million “house of hope” for cancer patients opened in north Everett in June, though it’s officially known as the Providence Regional Cancer Partnership headquarters facility.

But for people suffering from the scourge of cancer, and enduring the emotional and physical stress of healing treatments, the new center is without doubt a fortress of hope in their war against this disease.Four leading, and usually competing, nonprofit and for-profit health-care providers in Snohomish County joined forces for the first time in a venture that leverages their individual skills and resources. The partnership makes their individual efforts not only more effective but also more helpful to patients and their families.

Credit for the 100,000-square-foot, world-class cancer center goes not only to Providence Everett Medical Center, The Everett Clinic, Western Washington Medical Group and Northwest Washington Radiation Oncology Associates but also to hundreds of people in the community who contributed nearly $5 million to the Providence General Foundation to support construction of the new building.

While each of the partners has been involved with cancer treatment for years, particularly Providence Everett Medical Center’s Flynn Cancer Center, a new facility for applying newer technology and improved processes for handling patients’ records and treatment needs has long been needed.

Health-care evolution for the county
“This opening marks a great day in the evolution of health care in Snohomish County,” said Dr. Elie Saikaly, medical director of the Providence Regional Cancer Partnership. “There has been a determined focus on recruiting the top cancer-care experts to this region — oncologists, surgeons and other health-care experts — to pool their expertise and experience for a new level of multi-disciplinary medicine. Add in world-class technology and all the patient-centered amenities this cancer partnership offers, and patients will get the most advanced care available, right here in Everett.”

Considering medical studies have found that two of every three men and one of every three women develop cancer in their lifetimes, the new center is decidedly a community asset that will provide increasing benefits for residents of Snohomish County and surrounding communities for decades to come.

“The whole facility is designed with the patient in mind,” said the center’s executive director, Jean McMahon, during a news media tour of the five-floor building. “Our main lobby and waiting rooms have been decorated with appropriate artwork — nothing with abstract work, which often has a negative effect on cancer patients — and we use wood and color furnishings that reflect a homelike setting.”

Source:www.heraldbusinessjournal.com