The Siteman Cancer Center recently announced the opening of the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital.
Ovarian cancer survivor and St. Charles County resident JoAnn Carter explained firsthand why having world-class cancer services close to home is so vital.
In 1999, Carter was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and turned to the experts at Siteman. She was grateful the drive for weekly chemotherapy was only 30 miles, but it was still challenging.
In 2004, her trips to Siteman began again when her husband of 52 years, Darold Carter, was being treated for brain cancer.
After her husband passed away, JoAnn Carter began spending time spreading awareness about cancer.
“Cancer patients prefer care right in their neighborhood,” Carter said. “Chemotherapy is exhausting, and I’m thrilled knowing that now there is a nationally recognized cancer center just a few miles from my home.
“For certain procedures and treatments, it is wonderful to have a powerhouse like Siteman’s main location within reach. But to now have access to so many services and clinical trials right here in St. Charles County is ideal.”
University medical oncologist Timothy Pluard, M.D., serves as medical director of the new Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital.
Trained at the School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School, Pluard brings more than 15 years of experience as a medical oncologist, including the past 12 in St. Charles County.
The new center offers a complete array of services, including medical and radiation oncology; cancer screening programs; and a full range of educational, nutritional, spiritual and support services for cancer patients and their families.
Patients will also now have access to the leading-edge research and treatment studies offered by the main Siteman campus, which recently became the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Missouri — and within a 240-mile radius of St. Louis.
“Together, we are excited to bring world-class cancer care to St. Charles County,” said David Ross, president of Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital.
“Ultimately, this partnership and new, modern facility give St. Charles families access to nationally recognized cancer care through the Siteman Cancer Center and Washington University School of Medicine — right in their own neighborhood.”
Ross added that the building was designed with patients in mind — such as the Garden of Hope, which is visible through a large wall of windows in the treatment room.
“Bringing the most advanced clinical services and clinical research studies to our community in the most convenient manner possible is part of what it means to be an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center,” said Timothy J. Eberlein, M.D., director of the Siteman Cancer Center, head of the Department of Surgery and the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor at the medical school.
“We are pleased that through this partnership, we are able to bring these high-caliber services to the people of St. Charles and its surrounding communities.”
Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital is an ideal location for the new cancer center, as St. Charles County is home to nearly 312,000 residents.
Not only is St. Charles County one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States, but also in a recent telephone survey of county residents, almost three-fourths agreed that people in the community who are seriously ill needed better access to hospital care.
The $7 million cancer center covers 14,055 square feet on the hospital’s campus, next to the Outpatient Surgery and Endoscopy Center.
The center was created with patient convenience in mind. The one-stop shop features ample free parking right outside the door, on-site registration and lab testing; eight exam rooms; eight infusion chairs, two of them in semi-private rooms; a medication room for mixing drugs and a CT simulator for radiotherapy treatment planning.