It’s an alliance designed to provide unprecedented access to an unparalleled level of care in mid-Michigan.
The collaboration between McLaren Greater Lansing and the Karmanos Cancer Institute in conjunction with Michigan State University Health Care elevates the level of cancer care and research throughout the region. The partnership at the new health care campus will help recruit top clinicians, provide outstanding patient care, and place new life-changing therapies and treatments within easy reach.
“This provides the best and most cutting-edge cancer care to our community, backed by a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center: Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit,” said Nick Erikson, regional director of cancer services for the Karmanos Cancer Institute at McLaren Greater Lansing. “Services and resources out of Detroit — genetic counseling, clinical trials, specialty pharmacy — are available to our patients. Standards developed across our system, such as chemotherapy care plans, are evidence based and ensure that the care patients receive at a Karmanos facility will be the highest quality.”
NCI-designated centers like Karmanos Cancer institute in Detroit also have a commitment to research and education, and as a result Erikson said, ”We’re bringing treatments from the lab to the patient, we’re teaching the next generation of oncologists, and we’re producing and providing community education.”
As part of McLaren Health Care, Karmanos is Michigan’s largest cancer care and research network, caring for approximately 12,000 new patients annually and conducting more than 800 cancer-specific scientific investigation programs and clinical trials. Karmanos has 15 locations throughout Michigan and Ohio.
“Cancer care is highly complex and financially burdensome,” Erikson said. “Rather than each of our sites ‘recreating the wheel’ as the programs operate and develop, the Karmanos network sites collaborate and lean on each other. This allows us to move more quickly and bring better services to our programs at the McLaren facilities. For those reasons, most sites can’t provide these resources individually.”
In addition, the Karmanos Cancer Institute at McLaren Greater Lansing is home to the Breast Imaging Center, offering services such as screenings, biopsies, and surgical and reconstructive services; and a dedicated immediate care facility for cancer patients to receive care by oncology-trained nurses and physicians in a setting specifically created to accommodate those with compromised immune systems. The former MSU Health Care Women’s Imaging Center also is now housed in the Breast Imaging Center.
Facets of the partnership have created assets that previously were unavailable locally before, such as:
Multi-disciplinary team clinics
Genetic counseling services
Specialty pharmacy
The NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center’s portfolio of clinical trials, integrated electronic medical records, tumor boards (including ability to access Karmanos subspecialists in Detroit), a physician recruitment pipeline and physician collaboration/education resources.
Erikson and Kirk Ray, president and CEO of McLaren Greater Lansing, envision the collaboration between Karmanos and McLaren will only continue to strengthen health care services in the region for generations to come because of the enduring commitment to provide cutting-edge treatments and a comprehensive model of care that includes free services that community cancer centers typically cannot afford to provide.
“This project is so much more than just brick-and-mortar buildings. The talented people who will call these spaces home will not only save lives, but help advance health care as a whole,” said Ray. “The opportunities for advancements in research, clinical trials and integrated oncology care with Karmanos Cancer Institute and MSU Health Care mark an exciting new chapter in the future of health care in our region.”
A number of naming opportunities are still available at the Karmanos Cancer Institute at McLaren Greater Lansing. They include:
The atrium: $750,000
The courtyard: $500,000
The extended-hours clinic: $250,000
The education/multi-purpose room: $100,000
The resource center: $100,000
The tumor board conference room: $50,000
The radiation oncology vaults: $50,000
The infusion center: $250,000
Infusion pods: $100,000
Oncology pods: $50,000
The multidisciplinary teaching room: $50,000
Oncology procedure rooms: $50,000
Infusion bays: $25,000
The breast imaging center: $250,000
Staff lounges: $35,000
Exam rooms: $25,000
For more information on available naming opportunities, please call the McLaren Greater Lansing Foundation at (517) 975-7100 or visit mclarenloveslansing.org.
