Spokane To Be Cancer Treatment Center Four Local Hospitals Join Forces With Hutchinson Center To Bring Latest Technology To Inland Northwest

Representatives from four Spokane hospitals unveiled plans Tuesday to build a regional cancer center offering patients the latest in treatment technology.

Backing the project are doctors, educators and Inland Northwest Health Services.

The center will provide outpatient treatment, perform cancer research and educate the community from a yet-to-be-determined spot, proponents said. Inpatient treatment will continue to be provided at area hospitals.

The center will be affiliated with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center of Seattle, internationally known for cancer research and treatment.

“The nicest thing about this, I think, is that we can really serve people,” Spokane pediatric oncologist Frank Reynolds said. “We can serve them locally, and we can give them confidence.”

The plans were announced Tuesday morning by officials from the hospital network, WSU Spokane’s Health Research Education Center, the Joint Center for Higher Education and the Fred Hutchinson center.

But there were more questions about the Spokane center than answers.

A site still hasn’t been picked. The cost hasn’t been determined. Staffing hasn’t been decided.

And the affiliation agreement between Fred Hutchinson and Inland Northwest Health Services - made up of officials from Deaconess Medical Center, Holy Family Hospital, Sacred Heart Medical Center and Valley Hospital and Medical Center - hasn’t been hammered out.

But the center represents another collaborative step among the hospitals, which started working together four years ago on projects.

Sacred Heart and Deaconess have combined their patient rehabilitation units and air ambulance services. Every week, the hospitals also trade the handling of serious trauma cases.

The hospitals recently installed a computer backbone linking Spokane hospitals to rural neighbors.

All this collaboration aims to cut costs and turn Spokane into a regional medical hub designed to attract patients who might otherwise go to larger cities for care.

At least 20 percent of area patients diagnosed with cancer seek treatment elsewhere, if they seek it at all.

Some go to Fred Hutchinson or other cancer centers while others are referred away for transplants. Patients often have to stay four months at a time, said doctors who have referred patients out of the city.

“We have destroyed families by doing so,” Reynolds said. “They stop working. The family stops functioning.”

The Spokane center will combine equipment, staffs and patients. Officials want it to become a widely recognized center of excellence in cancer treatment. They also want to reduce duplication of cancer services and increase efficiency.

With enough regional patients, specialties such as gynecological oncology might be able to gain a foothold in the area, doctors said.

The center’s ties to WSU’s Health Research Education Center will connect university researchers to Spokane doctors. The center could attract new biotech firms and new jobs, said Tom White, president and chief executive officer of Empire Health Services, which runs Deaconess and Valley.

The Fred Hutchinson center will link Spokane hospitals with resources that aren’t available now. Doctors will be able to work with the latest drug protocols, straight from centers of excellence. They’ll be able to consult with experts at Fred Hutchinson.

Doctors, concerned they’re picking the right option in an increasingly complex menu of treatment options, said they are happiest for the patients.

“Patients are asking for this,” said Dr. Roger Good, director of radiation oncology at Deaconess Cancer Center. “Everyone’s extremely excited. The doctors recognize this is what we’ve needed for a long time.”

The center will offer a spectrum of outpatient diagnostic, treatment and support services. Radiation oncology equipment now at Sacred Heart and Deaconess will be moved to the new center, although one Deaconess physicist said moving the equipment would be a tough feat.

One satellite office will be at Holy Family Hospital, in its current cancer center.

In the next 60 to 90 days, a consultant will be hired to help work out details about the project.

Another cancer-treatment center, operated by the for-profit Physician’s Reliance Network of Dallas, has more concrete plans. It is planned for the corner of Fifth and Sheridan, with eight doctors in a staff of 60 and the ability to treat as many as 160 patients a day.

, DataTimes