Penn
State Milton
S. Hershey
Medical Center
has made an agreement designed to improve oncology care for patients at a Berks
County-based hospital.
Penn
State Milton
S. Hershey
Medical Center has made an agreement designed to improve oncology care for patients at a Berks
County-based hospital.
If a level of cancer care is unavailable at St. Joseph Medical Center,
patients there will have access to those services through the Penn State Hershey
Cancer Institute, according to a news release.
A Hershey surgical oncologist, for example, might perform a
procedure at St. Joseph or at Hershey, said Mike
Jupina, vice president of communications for St. Joseph.
Some services will be available at both locations, while
others will depend on where a particular piece of equipment or treatment is
available, he said.
St. Joseph
patients also will have access to clinical studies and trials at Hershey, Jupina
said.
“Cancer is a disease that doesn’t travel well,
yet it often requires multiple levels of care that aren’t always available
close to home,” institute Director Thomas P. Loughran Jr. said in a statement.
“Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute’s
goal is to partner with community organizations like St.
Joseph Medical Center to offer residents throughout Pennsylvania the
broadest possible access to preventative, diagnostic and treatment options for
all types of cancer close to where they live,” he said.
Hershey and St. Joseph have
collaborated on other initiatives, including development of St. Joseph’s new stroke program.
More coordination between the two hospitals will follow,
according to a news release.
