2022 Director’s Letter
CONTENTS
provided senior-level leadership and support to the Cancer Institute for more than 20 years, announced his retirement. Renee Hawk, Vice President of the Cancer Institute, retired in June 2022. Both individuals were an integral part of the growth and development of the Cancer Institute. I am happy to report that their positions were filled internally with experienced and competent administrative leaders. Dr. Lisa Duncan is the new Senior Vice President for the Centers of Excellence, which includes the CI. Susan Stinnett, MBA, RT, was selected as the Executive Director of the CI. Other leadership changes in the CI include Natalie Ellis, BSN, RN, OCN, who is the new Clinical Director, and Brett Miller, M.S., DABR, MBA, the Director of Radiation Oncology and The Breast Center as well as the Chief Medical Physicist. We look forward to working and growing with the new leadership team. I hope that each of you enjoy this report outlining some, but certainly not all, of the activities and accomplishments of the Cancer Institute in 2022. We look forward to 2023 and remain focused on our mission to serve through healing, education, and discovery.
expansion of molecular and genetic testing. These technologies are revolutionizing and personalizing patient care from diagnosis to determining the most effective treatments to predicting prognosis. The CI leadership and clinical team are partnering with several testing companies to ensure appropriate and accessible testing is available for patients served by the CI providers. Despite the challenges brought about by COVID, University Health Systems, Inc. (UHS), and the UT Graduate School of Medicine moved forward with applying to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for a fellowship in medical oncology. The application was approved, and the first two fellows began in June 2022. This was another milestone in the UHS mission to train specialists who will hopefully remain in our region for the future delivery of health care. In 2022 UHS and the Cancer Institute began the process of developing a new strategic plan which will provide direction for the next five years. The Cancer Institute kicked off the process with a one-day retreat in August 2022 that included all cancer specialists and administrative leadership from CI managers to UHS senior leaders. Over the remainder of 2022, the CI strategic plan was developed, refined, and aligned with the hospital plan. In 2023 the CI leadership will begin rolling out this new plan. As with all things, change is inevitable. 2022 brought changes in leadership for the Cancer Institute. Dr. Steve Ross, Senior Vice President of Strategic Development, who had
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(chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapies, and supportive care). The development of the regimens included a team of physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and IT analysts who collaborated for 18 months to accomplish this task. The implementation phase involved all staff who serve a patient undergoing treatment in any capacity. During the entire process, the safety and care of patients remained the number one priority and focus for our team while trying to maximize efficiency. The Transplant and Cellular Therapy (TCT) program, which launched in November 2021 saw the number of patients seeking transplant services exceed projected volumes. Many were thankful to have access to these services right here in East Tennessee. By the end of 2022, the TCT program had completed 25 transplants, was planning the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy treatment, and had completed agreements to offer a clinical trial for tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). CAR-Ts and TILs are both emerging cellular therapies in which the patient’s own immune cells are treated and infused back into the body to fight cancer. The TCT program is the only program offering transplant and cellular therapy services in the East Tennessee region, thus relieving patients and families of the burden and expense of traveling outside the area for these types of treatments. In addition to the advancement of the TCT program, the Cancer Institute remains on the forefront of the
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with expanding regional access, providers, and facilities to better serve those in our community. By the end of 2022, the Cancer Institute had completed renovations that added 10,000 square feet of new space to the Cancer Institute on the main campus, was preparing to open a new medical oncology practice and chemotherapy infusion center at the Halls Regional Health Center, had completed plans for a new Cancer Institute satellite in Alcoa, and had recruited four new medical oncologists and supporting staff to the CI team. Another major accomplishment in 2022 was the implementation of the third and final phase of the oncology electronic medical record or EMR. This last and most challenging phase revolved around the development and launch of more than 500 treatment regimens
Welcome to the 2022 Cancer Institute Annual Report. Finally, 2022 was a year that things began to return to normal after more than two years of focusing on COVID and precautions to keep our patients, their families, and the Cancer Institute (CI) team safe while continuing to provide high- quality care to those facing a cancer diagnosis. As 2022 progressed, volumes of patient visits, surgeries,
Endowment 2022 Cancer Statistics Hematology Oncology Fellowship
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chemotherapy, and radiation treatments rebounded to pre-
Sincerely,
COVID volumes as patients resumed screenings and physician visits. This letter includes highlights from 2022 and several articles in the report will provide more details of the ongoing efforts and accomplishments of the Cancer Institute team. In preparation to meet the growing oncologic needs in our service region, the Cancer Institute moved forward
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John L. Bell, MD, FACS, FSSO Director Cancer Institute, Surgical Oncologist
UTMedicalCenter.org
2 - Cancer Institute Annual Report 2022
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