The rain didn’t stop nearly 600 people from attending the late-April celebration for the grand opening of Mission Hope Cancer Center in Santa Maria. The integrated treatment center is home to state-of-the-art medical technology on par with that of UCLA and Stanford.
“Our goal is to create something equivalent that can serve the coast. Our main focus is that we want to take care of the people here,” Dr. Robert Dichmann said.
Treating cancer is a multi-stage process that often involves more than one doctor and, in some cases, multiple procedures done at a time. Cancer patients undergoing treatment are usually required to drive from one office to another.
“Trying to get into a vehicle when you have cancer—it’s absolutely straining. I could barely walk,” cancer survivor Atul Patel said as he took baby steps to demonstrate the hardship. “Unless you physically experience it, there is nothing like it. Basically, it’s like being in a boxing ring and being beaten up. That is truly how bad you feel.”
The goal Dichmann and his colleague Katherine Guthrie had in creating Mission Hope was to reduce unnecessary stress a patient might experience by integrating cancer services into one building in hopes of making patients’ treatment more efficient and speedy.
“It all comes down to the patients’ needs. Cancer is a difficult experience emotionally and physically. We ask our patients to do a lot,” Dichmann said, adding that patients often see several doctors and undergo multiple procedures at a time. These include getting blood tests, chemotherapy sessions, and scans, and obtaining nutritional and emotional support.
“You are looking at five, six, or seven different places they need to go to. When you’re getting beaten up by chemo or radiation therapy, and just not feeling well, it becomes more complicated and time consuming than most people know,” he said.
The three-story, 44,000-square-foot building incorporates Central Coast Medical Oncology, Marian Cancer Care, Coastal Radiation Oncology, Marian PET/CT Center, Marian Breast Imaging Center, Marian Lab Services, surgeons, and radiologists all under one roof.
“Probably the most important thing of having us all together in one building is what I like to call ‘comprehensive compassionate cancer care,’” said Dr. Monica Rocco, a general surgeon who specializes in breast cancer. “The other thing is with our affiliation with UCLA, we can deliver big-time medicine with a small-time feel. So people don’t have to leave the area any more. Everything is right here.”
Mission Hope partnered with UCLA to offer qualified patients clinical trials that aren’t yet available on the market. According to Rocco, out of the 25 satellite hospitals that participate with UCLA’s clinical research program, Santa Maria has ranked in the top two in the last two years for the number of patients enrolled.
“That’s pretty amazing for little Santa Maria. That means that we are ahead of the curve for research compared to other big places. It gives me goose bumps, because this is how discoveries are made,” Rocco said.
The new building has a research division dedicated to clinical trials for multiple types of cancer, according to Mission Hope’s website.
“Right now we have 25 to 30 people on clinical trials, and in my mind, if they weren’t on that clinical trial we would have very few options for them. It’s an addition to what we’re doing on top of everything else,” Dichmann said.
Sitting on the main floor is another tool Mission Hope has in its arsenal: the Varian TrueBeam linear accelerator. The TrueBeam, Dichmann said, is the world’s most advanced radiation system. It’s designed to pinpoint radiation treatment precisely to where a tumor is in a body. There are about 150 TrueBeam machines in the world and only five in California.
Aside from the advanced technology, the interior design of the building was another factor considered during the planning stages. The building is lit with a warm light, unlike the standard clinical lights of hospitals. All around the building are framed pictures of surf photographer Chris Burkard’s work. Burkard donated more than 100 of his best photographs.
The third floor, where chemotherapy is administered, is the most spacious room in the building, with huge windows overlooking the Santa Maria Valley.
According to a report published by the Journal of Clinical Oncology, from 2010 to 2030, the number of people who will be diagnosed with cancer will increase from 1.6 million to 2.3 million in the United States.
Dr. Case Ketting, an oncologist at Mission Hope, said integrated cancer centers play an important part in the future of cancer treatment. Cancer is a complex disease that can take many forms. Communication among specialized doctors trained in specific disciplines is a key component to a successful treatment.
“This is what we will be addressing with the new center: better communication, better location, better integration. Not that we haven’t been doing that before, but the closer we are together the better we can serve you,” Ketting said during the opening ceremony. “We can’t make it so patients have one doctor to see, but we can make it so that there’s only one place to be if you have cancer, and that’s Mission Hope.”
Jason Banania is an intern at the Sun. Contact him at intern@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 3-10, 2012.