Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital, the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center and Washington University School of Medicine proudly announce the opening of the new Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital. Ovarian cancer survivor and St. Charles County resident, JoAnn Carter, can say first-hand why having world-class cancer services close to home is so vital.
In 1999, JoAnn was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and turned to the experts at the Siteman Cancer Center. 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 began spending time spreading awareness about cancer. “Cancer patients prefer care right in their neighborhood. 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.”
Together, the three organizations will bring world-class cancer care to St. Charles County. Washington 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 Washington University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School, Pluard brings more than 15 years of experience as a medical oncologist, including the last 12 in St. Charles County. He also sees patients and teaches at Siteman Cancer Center’s main location at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
The new Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital 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. Additionally all patients will 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,” says BJSPH President David Ross. “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. The building was designed with patients in mind—such as the Garden of Hope, 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,” says Timothy J. Eberlein, M.D., director of the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. “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 more than 311,500 residents. Not only is St. Charles County one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States, but in a recent telephone survey of county residents, almost three-fourths agreed that people in the community who are seriously ill need 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. A one-stop shop with ample free parking right outside the door, it offers 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; a CT simulator for radiotherapy treatment planning; a Varian Clinac EX linear accelerator used to deliver intensity-modulated radiation therapy; and an integrated paperless system for registration, scheduling, billing, digital image retrieval, lab reporting, order entry and charting.
The new cancer center combines the convenience of a St. Charles County location with the expertise of a nationally renowned cancer center and medical school. For the past two years, Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital has been voted No. 1 in St. Charles County in the Suburban Journals’ annual readers’ poll. The Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine is nationally-ranked by U.S. News & World Report magazine.
Last year Washington University physicians at Siteman treated nearly 6,000 new cancer patients and provided access to more than 350 clinical studies. Overall support for cancer research and related training grants totals approximately $130 million a year. The new partnership with Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital is an extension of the current established relationship between Washington University School of Medicine, consistently ranked in the top five medical schools in the country, and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, ranked 6th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Missouri’s largest hospital and the primary adult teaching hospital of Washington University. Siteman also has offices in West St. Louis County.
Questions can be directed to 636-928-WELL(9355) or visit www.bjsph.org.