Gundersen-Lutheran receives $2.75 million grant for cancer research

For a variety of reasons, many cancer patients cannot commute to major medical centers for treatment.  85 percent of cancer patients are diagnosed and receive at least their first course of treatment at a community hospital.

That's why the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded Gundersen Lutheran Health Systems a $2.75 million grant to enhance cancer programs, services and research as part of the NCI National Community Cancer Centers Program.

Gundersen is one of 14 community cancer centers to receive a grant.  The money is targeted to hospitals and clinics serving largely rural, suburban, small-town and underserved urban populations.

"Being a part of the NCCCP will allow us to offer even more exciting new treatment options for patients and enhance our programs and services to advance cancer research and care for patients in our mainly rural service area," says Alcee Jumonville, MD, oncologist and NCCCP principal investigator at Gundersen Lutheran.
 
"With clinics in 19 counties and three states, our service area is very large and many of our patients would have to travel long distances if they always needed to come to La Crosse for their cancer care. Our extensive outreach and telemedicine program allows many of our cancer patients to stay in their own communities to receive their cancer treatment. Now, as part of the NCCCP network, we will be able to expand these services even further to better serve our patients," says Dr. Jumonville.
 
Along with expanding hematology/oncology outreach and telemedicine programs, Gundersen Lutheran plans use its funding to offer health fairs for minority residents to provide education and screening opportunities; establish an oncology clinic for an underserved population in their service area; increase the number of patients participating in clinical trials; improve their ability to share data with other healthcare organizations by adopting compatible health IT software;  and enhance their survivorship program.