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The first community forum for the Dana-Farber Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center (DF/BWCC) drew more than 600 people from both institutions to learn about the center’s programs, get to know one another and enjoy refreshments, music and prizes. Representatives from each of the cancer center’s disease programs displayed posters detailing the programs, and answered questions about their work.
At the leadership forum that kicked off last week’s event, DFCI and BWH senior leaders spoke about the center’s success in melding services from two institutions into a single operation, the challenges along the way and the work to be done.
DFCI President Edward J. Benz Jr., MD, discussed the center’s origins and future. “We decided that we needed to take what had been a working relationship [between DFCI and BWH] that was outstanding in some areas and make it systemic, something that pervades everything we do,” he said. The impetus was clear: “Our patients told us they loved getting care here, but couldn’t figure out how to navigate between the two institutions.”
Since the center’s formation, its market share continues to grow, fundraising is flourishing and patient access to the center has been simplified with the introduction of a single phone number and clinical paging system.
“We are creating a single center with a single brand to streamline and remove redundancies in work efforts and resources,” said BWH President Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA. “We are making a difference in people’s lives by making it easier for them to reach us, and isn’t that why we are doing this in the first place?”
Plans for the center include expansion and upgrading of clinical facilities, with the construction of a new building by DFCI and renovation of BWH’s Tower; creating a network of DF/BWCC clinics at regional hospitals; and making DF/BWCC’s 12 disease centers unmatched in their ability to bring new therapies to patients.
View photos from the event