Hundreds of cancer patients from far-southern Illinois will have easier access to cancer specialists at Springfield's Southern Illinois University School of Medicine through an affiliation announced Wednesday between SIU's Simmons Cancer Institute and the Carbondale-based Southern Illinois Healthcare Cancer Institute.
SIH Cancer Institute's affiliation with SIU will mean that Simmons' medical and surgical oncologists will work more closely with Carbondale doctors to map out treatment plans for southern Illinois cancer patients, according to Dr. John Godwin, associate director of Simmons Cancer Institute.
As a result of the increased collaboration between doctors in Carbondale and Springfield, SIH and Simmons officials said the affiliation will mean that more than 100 southern Illinois cancer patients annually will travel to Springfield -- rather than St. Louis or other metropolitan areas -- for outpatient care from Simmons' highly specialized oncologists and for surgeries at Springfield hospitals.
Hundreds more patients will benefit from the affiliation without ever having to travel to Springfield, Godwin said, because their Carbondale doctors will brainstorm regularly with SIU doctors about those patients' cases during specialized cancer team meetings that are now open to the Carbondale doctors through teleconferencing technology.
Southern Illinois cancer patients also will have more options for receiving cutting-edge cancer treatments in their hometowns, Godwin said. That's because the SIH Cancer Institute will be able to offer those patients entry into national clinical trials, for the first time, through Simmons and the Decatur-based Central Illinois Community Clinical Oncology Program.
Dr. J. Kevin Dorsey, dean and provost of SIU School of Medicine, said, "We celebrate this affiliation with our colleagues at Southern Illinois Healthcare because our commitment to outreach includes developing a network of affiliates for Simmons Cancer Institute so that downstate citizens have increased access to advanced cancer-care services."
Southern Illinois Healthcare is a not-for-profit health-care system with more than 2,000 employees that operates SIH Cancer Institute as well as three hospitals: Herrin Hospital, Memorial Hospital of Carbondale and St. Joseph Memorial Hospital in Murphysboro.
Video: Rex Budde, president and CEO of Southern Illinois Healthcare and K. Thomas Robbins, M.D., director of Simmons Cancer Institute at SIU speak about the affiliation.
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Photo: Dr. John Godwin, associate director of Simmons Cancer Institute, and Phillip Davis, associate provost with SIU School of Medicine, discuss the new affiliation announced yesterday between SIU's Simmons Cancer Institute and the Carbondale-based Southern Illinois Healthcare Cancer Institute.
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