For a telemedicine appointment, patients travel to a nearby clinic, and their Sanford Health provider calls in. “It allows us to give patients the best access without making them travel long distances to our main cancer centers,” explains Dr. Watson. “We can do almost everything that we’d do in person.” Outreach care is similar. Patients travel to the nearest cancer center, and their oncologist meets them there. Dr. Watson, for example, visits the Worthington Cancer Center on a regular basis. “Some of our providers will do outreach up to a few times per month,” says Dr. Watson. “And that allows us to do face-to-face care when it’s needed.” Providers from the Sanford Cancer Center in Sioux Falls provide outreach care to locations across South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. Dr. Watson is also working to make new treatments available to patients in rural areas. When new treatment methods are being developed, they eventually go to a research stage known as a clinical trial. By participating in clinical trials, Sanford Health is bringing the most cutting- edge treatments to their patients. But often, those trials are only approved for patients who can get to the main cancer center easily and often. “We are working with clinical trial developers to get our patients in rural places access to clinical trials,” says Dr. Watson. It’s all part of a larger Sanford Health initiative to ensure high quality care is available no matter where someone lives.
ABERDEEN, SD FURTHEST DISTANCE THE TRUCK TRAVELS 202 MILES The team visits the 3M manufacturing facility once a year.
Cancer is not convenient – but care can be A cancer diagnosis turns your world upside down, requiring you to put plans on hold and clear your schedule for the many appointments to come. It can be overwhelming. But at Sanford Health, our team is committed to making cancer care work for you. Allison Watson, MD, PhD, the physician leader for the clinical breast cancer research program, breaks down how Sanford Health is committed to keeping cancer care as convenient as it can be. It starts with the weekly tumor board. This is when the oncology team, which includes medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, cancer surgeons, plastic surgeons, the research team, radiologists and pathologists, meets to discuss each new cancer diagnosis. The meeting allows everyone to share their opinions and collaborate. And the patient isn’t responsible for coordinating any of it. “It’s a way to offer comprehensive care without someone having to see each specialty individually,” says Dr. Watson. In more rural areas, Sanford Health is reaching cancer patients through telemedicine and outreach care, which are two similar ways of making cancer care more accessible.
Going
the Extra Mile
When the Sanford Health mobile mammography unit pulls into town, so does the cutting-edge technology and exceptional care that’s available at the Edith Sanford Breast Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The trucks are equipped with 3D mammography machines that can pinpoint the size, shape and location of irregularities with greater accuracy, especially for patients with dense breast tissue. Each day, a two-person team travels around the state seeing patients in towns where the technology isn’t otherwise available or offering on-site mammograms to busy women while they’re at work.
“Our goal is to give patients access to the best available treatments in places that are accessible to them.”
BERESFORD, SD
Derek Snow, an Edith Sanford Breast Center truck driver, went above and beyond his typical duties when the mobile mammography truck made a stop at Showplace Cabinetry. As it poured rain, Snow ensured patients got to and from their scans without getting wet.
Allison Watson, MD, PhD
992-433-307 8/25
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