After years of discussions, meetings and organizing, the UAB Health System and Infirmary Health have entered into an official relationship to bring comprehensive cancer services to southern Alabama.
Infirmary Cancer Care patients will now see the benefits of UAB’s cancer program, which strives to decrease the burden of cancer, improve outcomes and expand research.
“As Infirmary Health developed its cancer program, Infirmary Cancer Care, we wanted to have a meaningful and care-altering partnership that would enable us to continue to offer the highest level of care for our patients,” said Mark Nix, president and CEO of Infirmary Health. “Collaboration and affiliation with the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, one of the few National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the country, makes this goal possible, and we are confident our collaborative future with UAB will further our organization’s vision of being the first choice for health care in our region.”
“At UAB, our mission is to strive to offer an NCI-designated level of cancer care to anyone with cancer in the state of Alabama and bordering states, and this new partnership enables us to do just that,” said Barry Sleckman, M.D., Ph.D., director of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB. “Partnering with Infirmary Cancer Care allows us to extend our impact and provide our expertise to a broader patient population and to expand access to cancer clinical trials while allowing patients to remain close to home. Their knowledge of the local health care landscape will be invaluable as we jointly serve patients in the region.”
There are five Infirmary Cancer Center locations in Mobile and Baldwin Counties.
“This partnership is monumental for health care in Alabama and the cancer patients of our region,” said Furhan Yunus, M.D., director of Infirmary Cancer Care. “Through our collaboration, Infirmary Cancer Care patients will now have access to more than 200 clinical trials and the resources of an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center close to home. This will improve not only the outcomes for our patients but also their quality of life during their cancer treatment and beyond.”
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
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