UPMC Cancer Centers and the Regional Cancer Center in Erie Team Up to Benefit Patients
PITTSBURGH, September 16, 2008 — The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Cancer Centers today announced a formal affiliation with The Regional Cancer Center (RCC) in Erie, one of the largest free-standing cancer centers in the country.
Under the new management agreement, UPMC Cancer Centers will provide management and operations expertise on a day-to-day basis to the RCC and its satellite centers in Meadville, Pa. and Ashtabula, Ohio. The RCC will remain locally owned and governed by Saint Vincent Health System and the Hamot Health Foundation.
“The Regional Cancer Center has an excellent cancer program and, with its satellite locations, will be the largest of the 44 providers in our network, all working with our primary location in Pittsburgh,” said Charles Bogosta, executive vice president of UPMC Cancer Centers. “We look forward to working together, putting patients first and advancing cancer treatment in northwest Pennsylvania.”
UPMC Cancer Centers offers RCC access to more than 180 physicians, hundreds of clinical research trials and UPMC’s evidenced-based clinical pathways, or treatment “roadmaps,” developed by physician teams that are proven to optimize care for specific types of cancer.
“In 1987, RCC broke new ground in cancer care as one of the first free-standing cancer centers,” said Tom Elliott, chairman of the board of RCC. “Today, we are ahead of the curve by teaming up formally with one of the top cancer research programs in the world.”
UPMC Cancer Centers is one of the largest clinical academic cancer centers in the country, with 30,000 patients annually, and operates two cancer centers in Ireland. UPMC plans to significantly expand its cancer care services throughout Europe and the Middle East over the next decade.
Through the Erie Center and its community-based satellite facilities, the RCC delivers care to thousands of residents in an area encompassing 11 counties across three states. As a result of pooled resources, the expertise of a leading group of cancer-care physicians and an extensive network of treatment facilities, patients throughout the region have had access to advanced technologies and treatment methods, at times before many other parts of the country.
UPMC Cancer Centers offers cancer patients exceptional care and innovative treatments close to home. Working in tandem with the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI), the region’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, UPMC Cancer Centers provides the latest advances in cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment at more than 40 community-based locations throughout the region. UPCI comprises the academic and research activities for cancer at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.