San Diego Cancer Center patients will now have access to dozens of clinical trials
UC San Diego Health System is expanding its services in the North Coastal Community and is acquiring San Diego Cancer Center (SDCC). This acquisition is effective February 7, 2011.
“We are delighted to welcome the team from SDCC,” said Barbara Parker, MD, medical director of Moores Cancer Center. “We share the same goal of providing excellent cancer care in a supportive environment for the patient and family.”
“The real beneficiaries of this partnership are the people of San Diego,” said Tom McAfee, MD, dean for clinical affairs at UC San Diego Health System. “UC San Diego Health System has the opportunity to expand with an already-established cancer care provider. And SDCC has the opportunity to be a part of academic medicine and cutting-edge clinical trials available nowhere else in the San Diego region.”
Moores Cancer Center and SDCC have a long-standing, productive relationship and will continue to provide a multidisciplinary team approach to patient care, with an expanded team of experts. Patients at Moores Cancer Center and SDCC will experience minimal change. SDCC will continue to see patients at both SDCC locations – Encinitas and Vista. Moores Cancer Center will continue to see patients in La Jolla and Encinitas, as several MCC physicians and radiation/oncology services are already located in the SDCC building in Encinitas. At all locations, clinical, business and administrative staff will continue to perform in their same capacities and provide the same level of service and care that patients have come to expect.
SDCC providers will be able to join Moores Cancer Center’s disease-specific tumor boards and SDCC patients will now have the opportunity to participate in the more than 100 clinical trials active at Moores Cancer Center.
“We are proud to join this exceptional institution,” said Mark Adler, MD, co-founder and CEO of SDCC. “Our combined resources will transform the quality of cancer care delivery in this region.”
SDCC physicians and staff have built a successful, patient-oriented, vibrant cancer program over the past 20 years. Because of their unrelenting efforts to deliver the best in patient care, they have received several awards, such as the HOPE Award, which recognizes the best mid-size cancer center in the country (Hematology & Oncology News & Issues magazine, 2008), Health Care Champion Award (San Diego Business Journal, 2008), and 10News Leadership Award (Channel 10 News, San Diego, 2006).
“These are exciting times for UC San Diego Health System and this acquisition is one of the steps in that process,” said Tom Jackiewicz, CEO of UC San Diego Health System. “We opened a North Coastal Cardiology Clinic late last year; the state recently approved the opening of our North County Hyperbaric Chamber; our Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center opens for patient care in less than two months; final design plans for the Jacobs Medical Center – which opens in 2016 – are nearly complete; and planning for the replacement of our Hillcrest medical center continues. SDCC is part of our growing family.”
Moores Cancer Center is one of only 40 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the United States and the only one in the San Diego region. This NCI-designation is reserved for centers with the highest achievements in cancer research, clinical care, education and community contribution. This year, the Moores Cancer Center building celebrates its fifth anniversary.
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Media Contact: Kim Edwards, 619-543-6163, kedwards@ucsd.edu