Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) announced the opening of a Gastrointestinal (GI) Care Neighborhood, a new cancer clinic aimed at improving the experience for patients with GI cancers, which features dedicated GI-related cancer care services on one floor of SCCA’s South Lake Union campus.
“We are very excited to open the new GI Care Neighborhood, which reflects SCCA’s patient-centered approach to comprehensive, integrated cancer care,” stated Terry McDonnell, ARNP, MSN, DNP, SCCA Chief Nurse Executive and Vice President of Clinical Operations. “The Care Neighborhood was designed with our patients in mind so they can receive all of their medical oncology care in one place. It also serves as the first step toward a planned transformation of our traditional care models toward this even more patient-centered approach….”
Terry McDonnell, ARNP, MSN, DNP
The GI Care Neighborhood features flex rooms, which improve efficiency by making it possible for patients to receive all medical oncology care—including lab draws, nurse and provider visits, infusions, and supportive care visits—in one room. Most patients will only have to check in once and will not have to move throughout the building for appointments and services, thereby reducing wait times and the total time spent in the clinic.
SCCA has expertise in treating all GI cancers, from the most common to the rarest, including colorectal, pancreatic, liver, and esophageal cancers. With the organization’s long-standing multidisciplinary clinic model, SCCA patients receive individualized supportive care and innovative treatment plans. Furthermore, the consolidation of expert leaders from surgical oncology, medical oncology, radiation oncology, radiology, and pathology who participate in real-time tumor boards provides patients with full treatment evaluations and plans, from their initial visit throughout their treatment.
As Washington’s only National Cancer Institute–designated comprehensive cancer center, SCCA brings together the leading research teams and cancer specialists from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and UW Medicine. In collaboration with its partners, SCCA is committed to delivering patient-centered, high-quality care through a multidisciplinary approach that combines cancer experts, groundbreaking treatment, and comprehensive care from referrals to survivorship.
