Message from the Director

Welcome to the Oakwood Healthcare System’s Center for Cancer Care
The Center for Cancer Care (CCC) at Oakwood continues to move forward to support and enhance the care for cancer patients in the different communities that we serve. It is our goal to become the “unquestionable choice” for the treatment of cancer among the business and lay constituencies served by the Oakwood Healthcare System. In so doing, we intend to continue to offer throughout our System, cancer services of the highest quality, at the most convenient location and in a timely manner.

Accordingly, the CCC, which is an Oakwood System-wide Center of Excellence, has now established a presence not only at Oakwood Hospital & Medical in Dearborn in Oakwood’s community hospitals, Oakwood Annapolis Hospital in Wayne, Oakwood Southshore Medical Center in Trenton and Oakwood Heritage Hospital in Taylor.

• In addition to Intensely Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), Oakwood´s CCC is bringing Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) to Oakwood Hospital & Medical Center in Dearborn. This is the newest RT in the USA.
• The CCC is expanding the capabilities of its Radiation Oncology Facility in Southgate in the Downriver area to include IMRT in 2006 and in the future, CT simulation, so that patients can get these treatments in their own community. It has already added a BAT unit (B-mode ultrasound Acquisition & Targeting), a form of IGRT for the Conformal or IMRT treatments of prostate cancer.
• An integral part of the CCC’s Breast Cancer Program is the Breast Care Center (BCC). Our principal BCC will be moved to brand new facilities on the second floor in Oakwood Imaging Center. This will be a fully digital imaging facility and interwoven with the Oakwood Center for Women’s Services.
• A vital part of cancer care is outpatient chemotherapy. The OHS chemotherapy infusion center at Oakwood Hospital & Medical Center provides multiple services, including chemotherapy administration, infusion therapy, blood transfusions, injections, therapeutic phlebotomies and a number of other services.
• An ambulatory Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Unit will be anchored at Oakwood Heritage Hospital in 2006 and will serve the entire System; HBOT is routinely used in cancer for the treatment of osteoradionecrosis, non-healing necrotic wounds and some pulmonary ailments.
• The CCC was instrumental in allowing Oakwood Southshore Medical Center to obtain a transrectal ultrasound unit, which is the only one in the System. This is an essential tool in the management of rectal, esophageal and biliary tree neoplasias.
• The CCC was instrumental in obtaining PET/CT for the Oakwood System. This is an important tool for the staging and treatment of cancer.
• The CCC is endorsing the purchase of a da Vinci Robotic Surgery Unit for Oakwood Hospital & Medical Center in Dearborn.

One of the major assets of the CCC is the high level of interaction and discussion of important diagnostic and therapeutic issues associated with the care of cancer patients at eight disease-oriented, multidisciplinary Cancer Programs. Included are those associated with genitourinary, gynecological, gastrointestinal, thoracic, neuro-oncology, hematological, breast and head & neck. Each cancer program holds its own multidisciplinary Tumor Board. In addition, there is a surgical tumor board to handle the overflow from the other tumor boards. Each Cancer Program has an assigned leader and two co-leaders ensuring cross representation and the presence of all cancer disciplines. Each Tumor Board is supported by Diagnostic Radiology, Pathology and Radiation Oncology. Other activities of the multidisciplinary Cancer Programs of the include: screening, community affairs, physician education, pathways and treatment guidelines, internal protocols and Cancer Grand Rounds.

Oakwood’s CCC is affiliated with the University of Michigan Cancer Consortium and is a member of the Michigan Cancer Research Consortium (MCRC). This is a Clinical Cancer Oncology Program (CCOP) to which eight Hospital systems are associated with. This CCOP offers the CCC a Central IRB, access to six different Cooperative Groups (SWOG, NSABP, ECOG, RTOG, NCCTG, University of Michigan, plus pharmaceutical studies) and potential to enter patients in more than 100 clinical protocols that are offered at any of the NCI designated Cancer Centers throughout the USA. By being a participant in the MCRC, the CCC offers Oakwood’s cancer patients the best available cancer treatment in the country.

The CCC has developed a comprehensive education program. This includes not only patient education but, staff and physician education and training. It also includes many community support activities dealing with screening, prevention and cancer survivorship events. Similarly, in the CCC, we have continued to support educational programs for physicians (with CME credits), nurses (with CEU credits) and the community at large through the development and implementation of pathways and cancer guidelines of care, cancer symposia, Tumor Boards, Grand Rounds, review courses, newspaper adds, radio and TV appearances. In the CCC, we have been highly instrumental in getting information about cancer to our senior citizens in our different communities, as well as to the Arab and Hispanic constituencies.

The CCC has developed a Complementary Medicine Program, which is in itself multidisciplinary. In a concerted effort of our CCC to treat not tumors but ‘patients’ with tumors, and in order to address not only the physical ailments of our patients but also their emotional and mental disturbances, a comprehensive program has being designed for our cancer patients. This include the American Cancer Society’s “Look Good Feel Good” program, support groups, massage therapy, guided imagery, acupuncture, art therapy, hypnosis, psychosocial support, spiritual care, and pre-surgical instructions. The CCC’s hypnotists boast a success rate of over 85% for smoking cessation and weight loss.

The CCC has a well entrenched Cancer Risk and Genetic Assessment Program that allows our cancer patient to search for genetic predisposition to cancer and remedial action of their off springs and relatives. In addition, the CCC enjoys the services of a nutritionist who evaluate the nutritional needs of our cancer patients in a proactive basis. The CCC counts among its support ranks also with reconstructive surgery, ostomy care, speech therapy, oral surgery, dentistry, spiritual care, translators in both Arab and Spanish, and marketing.

The CCC has its own tumor registry and through this, is capable of tracking all cancer diagnosis patients within the Oakwood System. The CCC can now analyze the outcome of its cancer treatments and compare this, stage by stage, with National figures. Cancer patients treated in Oakwood’s CCC enjoy excellent outcomes, with survival figures equal or better than reported National statistics.

Oakwood’s CCC is very fortunate to have several groups of well-trained Medical Oncologists, a well-oiled surgical machinery of dedicated general and specialty surgeons, a dedicated contingency of oncology nurses, extremely capable support disciplines in Radiation Oncology, Diagnostic Radiology and Pathology; they all represent a real asset to the Center for Cancer Care. In addition, the Radiation Oncology Department of the CCC has added one additional physician (making now a total of five boarded Radiation Oncologists) and commands national leadership in pioneering new therapies for cancer, such as extracranial stereotactic radiosurgery, respiration gating to avoid organ (target) movements and once/week radiation as well as participating in new therapeutic strategies (i.e. partial breast irradiation with mammosite, virtual radioactive implants for early prostate cancer and radiolabelled antibody therapy).

It has been my pleasure and fortune to be the CCC’s Medical Director for the last six years. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our patients and their families, all of our donors and benefactors, all of our physicians and personnel and all of OHS Administration, for the trust and confidence they have placed on our cancer program. We, at the CCC, also offer our thanks and devoted gratitude to our referring physicians, nurses and support staff that make our Center for Cancer Care a successful reality and something that we all feel very proud of. We like to think that our CCC is second to none in Michigan and surrounding area; our outcomes and patient satisfaction surveys seem to indicate that our perceptions are not only correct but that we seem to be in the right tract. For this honor and all your support we are most thankful.

Sincerely,
Omar M. Salazar, MD, FACR, FACRO
Medical Director
Center for Cancer Care
Oakwood Healthcare System