I want to share some very exciting news with you regarding adult medical oncology. Today, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and UMass Memorial will be informing the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC) of our intent for the Medical Center to become the first academic medical center to join the Dana-Farber Cancer Care Collaborative.

The agreement, for adult medical oncology,  formalizes the relationship between our two hospitals. The collaboration will provide our patients with especially complex cancers expedited access to Dana-Farber specialists and also enhance specialized educational, training and consultation opportunities for Medical Center caregivers. Additionally, our two institutions will explore the feasibility of expanding opportunities for patients to participate in clinical trials at either site.

Special thanks to all of our caregivers who participated in the Dana-Farber site visit which was a key step in our becoming part of the collaborative. Your dedication to our patients shined through as did your commitment to adhere to the highest standards across a wide range of practices and procedures that characterize the hospitals in the collaborative. These standards and practices are reviewed annually and new practices and innovations in patient care are shared with collaborative members. Overall this is great news for our patients and our caregivers.

We are proud to be the newest member of the prestigious and nationally recognized Dana-Farber Cancer Care Collaborative and look forward to building a long relationship with it.

Thanks for all of your ideas and for taking great care of our patients and each other,

Eric