The Scott and White Memorial Hospital, Scott, Sherwood and Brindley Foundation and the Scott and White Clinic provide comprehensive, high quality health care for a 49 county area in Central Texas. Since the early 1900s, the Scott and White institution has demonstrated leadership in providing innovative cancer care emphasized by medical education and research. Continuing with this tradition of quality care for the community, Scott and White is pursuing NIH funding of the Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP) to support these objectives. The proposed CCOP consists of the hospital and clinic components at Scott and White, as well as, the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System as an affiliate. The proposed research bases will include the Southwest Oncology Group, the National Surgical Breast and Bowel Project, MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Childrens Oncology Group, and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. The components and the affiliate will continue to work together in promoting innovative cooperative group studies in the community and contributing to quality research through refinement of processes to identify patients for protocol enrollment. The objectives for the CCOP will be to further support the commitment to delivering research options to the community that include cancer control, prevention, and treatment studies. The CCOP will continue to build on the existing strategies to recruit minority participants onto NCI-sponsored protocols by establishing relationships with ethnic community leaders; through outreach activities; and by providing access to services in underserved areas. The disease-specific teams which were developed to expedite patient discussion and treatment plan decisions, will continue to improve processes with a patient-centered approach to treatment. Community-based involvement will be strengthened by increasing participation in cancer-related organizations that support the goal of eradicating life-threatening cancers through education, research, and providing access for underserved areas. A consistent growth in the Central Texas area, increased health plan participation and the expansion of outreach clinics has placed an increasing demand for cancer services at Scott and White. As a result, the CCOP is expecting an increasing patient accrual onto research protocols. Funding by the NIH will enable Scott and White to continue as the recognized leader in cancer research and treatment for the Central Texas community.
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