Little Company, University of Chicago Hospitals form affiliation to fight cancer, benefit residents
Little Company, University of Chicago Hospitals form affiliation to fight cancer, benefit residents
February 1, 1999
Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers has entered into an agreement with the Medical Oncology Group of the University of Chicago Hospitals--one of the country's most prominent cancer care and research organizations. This partnership will be known as Little Company of Mary Hospital Cancer Center in affiliation with the Medical Oncology Group of the University of Chicago Hospitals.
"This affiliation is a definite boon to the Southwest Side communities we serve," said Sister Kathleen McIntyre, president and CEO of Little Company. "With the additional services we can offer, community residents will now benefit from the protocols, drugs, and therapies generally only provided by a university-based cancer program. And they can now access these benefits without having to leave the community. This is especially advantageous to people who undergo cancer treatments over a prolonged period of time."
The affiliation includes a long-term agreement for the University of Chicago Hospital's Medical Oncology Group to practice at Little Company and to staff the new medical oncology center. (The center will be housed in the Mary Potter Physician's Pavilion, 2850 W. 95th Street) Patients will be able to receive outpatient chemotherapy in the center. Little Company's oncologists, many of whom have been on staff at Little Company for many years, will have access to this facility for their patients as well.
"We are excited about this opportunity to bring many of our new and promising innovative approaches to cancer therapy to more people in the Southwest Side communities that surround Little Company of Mary," said Everett Vokes, MD, professor of medicine and section chief of hematology/oncology at the University of Chicago.
One of the top rated cancer research and treatment programs in the United States, the University of Chicago is one of the few centers in the country designated by the National Cancer Institute to administer phase-1 and phase-2 clinical trial programs. Currently, more than 75 new drugs or novel drug combinations--including investigational therapies such as cancer vaccines, gene therapy, viral-based treatments, and anti-angiogenesis therapies--are being tested at the Hospitals.
The affiliation complements Little Company's plans to expand and upgrade the physical space of its Regional Cancer Center. This expansion will bring cancer- related services together in one convenient location and will include a chemotherapy treatment area, new radiation therapy support facilities, a learning resource center, meeting rooms for support groups, and other amenities. Groundbreaking for the expansion is slated for the summer of 1999.
Little Company's Regional Cancer Center is the premier cancer treatment facility and the only "regional" center on Chicago's Southwest Side. It has been accredited by the American College of Surgeons (ACOS). Only those hospitals which pass the rigorous standards of the AOS can use the name "regional cancer center."
Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers is owned and operated by the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary, an International Congregation of women founded by Venerable Mary Potter in 1877 in Nottingham, England, who provide health care to the communities they serve. Since 1930, Little Company has been a community-based hospital that provides advanced medical technologies in a friendly, compassionate environment.