1-stop center upgrades regional cancer care

Carol Durrant sits in a new, glossy-looking chair, paging through a book on God and miracles, as a nurse, Phyllis Newton, fiddles with the IV sticking out of Durrant's left arm.

On another gray day in the Northwest, it's another round of chemotherapy for the 68-year-old woman who's fighting ovarian cancer.

Durrant acknowledges the treatments aren't going as well as doctors had hoped, and what normally would have been a six-round therapy has been extended to at least nine.

Still, Durrant, with a bit of a Texas drawl, is willing to expound on the positives.

For one, she never gets sick after treatments, unusual among patients suffering through chemotherapy. Two, she's sitting in Providence Everett Medical Center's new "cancer partnership" building, which already has made the daylong treatment a lot more bearable.

It's what Newton likes to hear, and she smiles as she asks Durrant whether she needs anything else, such as something to drink. Liquids are a must, and several empty juice cans are proof that Durrant is keeping well-hydrated.

"What used to be spread out across this city is now all in one location," Newton says. "This new center is about patient convenience. They can go to the lab across the hall, radiation downstairs, park adjacent to the building and more."

Providence Regional Cancer Partnership opened last week at 1717 13th St. in Everett, adjacent to Providence Everett's Colby Campus.

For $64 million, Everett's regional hospital has become a "destination stop" for cancer care, hospital officials say. A tomotherapy machine, which mixes CAT scans with radiation treatment for greater precision, is among the state-of-the-art equipment housed in every part of the building, and doctors now have the luxury of sending patients to the main floor to explore nontraditional therapies that include naturopathy, hypnosis, acupuncture and massage.

As she settles in for another 20 minutes while the medicine that's supposed to kill her cancer begins to fill her IV tube, a cheerful Durrant seems intrigued as Newton explains the new services the cancer center will be offering.

Outside the large windows, affording patients a view of the Cascades to the east, the sky is finally starting to clear.

Longstanding need

For years, much of Snohomish County's advanced cancer care was scattered at different Everett facilities, say doctors, making it difficult for patients who needed to see more than one professional in a day. Lab work, including blood draws, was housed at one location in town, while office visits were often in another. Radiation treatments were provided in the basement of the hospital, mainly because of the heavy weight of the equipment, with no pleasant view to distract patients during an often-sickening routine.

"The radiology department had been in the same place since 1976 but had been added on to at least two times in the basement, so there was no place to go [with another expansion]," said Dr. William Wisbeck, medical director of radiation oncology at the center. "That was hard on patients because they don't feel well to begin with, and then they're driving around to various places."

By 1990, Wisbeck and others agreed something had to be done, but hospital funds already were committed to other improvements, and a new cancer center would have to wait. But eventually, the idea did take center stage, beginning in 2001 with talk of a collaborative project to create a new cancer center.

"It took a lot of work to build trust and to overcome egos and pride," Wisbeck said of the joint effort. Coming together with the hospital were the Everett Clinic, Western Washington Medical Group and Northwest Washington Radiation Oncology Associates.

The result was a 100,000-square-foot building with a 489-slot parking garage. While the hospital now is seeing about 100 patients a day, the capacity exists to increase that to 150 daily.

Included in the building is almost $11 million in new radiation-oncology technology, as well as larger treatment rooms, more changing rooms and about 150 pieces of art to brighten halls and treatment rooms with an array of warm nature scenes conveying a calm, Northwest feel.

"Now it's almost one-stop shopping," said Dawn Dickson, a social worker in the cancer center's patient support-services department. She works in the "holistic hall" where integrative medicine and counseling are offered. "Because it's all in one building, now the doctors will feel better about sending patients to other services available here in the building."

A time of change

Cancer treatments have changed drastically in recent years, says Jean McMahon, executive director of the hospital's cancer program, and patients' attitudes, wants and needs also have changed.

Ten years ago, most cancer patients in Snohomish County found themselves traveling to Seattle to see specialists or receive treatment. Now, heavy traffic discourages such trips, and more options are located outside Seattle.

"With increased technology, you often can treat a patient in under 30 minutes," McMahon said. "As a result, patients want to stay within their community."

To accommodate a growing number of patients, Providence began recruiting more highly trained cancer specialists five to seven years ago, hoping they would create an advanced program through their expertise and increasing patient base.

"You build a program by hiring physicians," McMahon said. "They build up the program, then you move into a building. This [center] is the final step to building community-based cancer care."

As the county continues growing, other Snohomish County hospitals also see a need to update their cancer centers.

Since 2002, Valley General Hospital in Monroe has offered limited cancer assessments and treatment, but hospital officials there say the time has come to increase services.

"We will still continue to grow our program, because it's much more convenient for patients to have their cancer care as close to home as possible," said Brenda Rogers, the hospital's clinical-services director. "But we also see ourselves in a partnership with Providence. They are still our tertiary [specialized] care center."

Oncologists serving Providence Regional also work a few days a week at Valley General, and the hospital is aggressively seeking more specialists to complement its existing medical services.

One way to do that is by becoming a certified community-cancer program through the American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer. Valley General has been pursuing that step the past two years, and hospital officials say they hope to be certified by year's end.

Stevens Hospital in Edmonds already offers services connected with the Puget Sound Cancer Centers and the Swedish Cancer Institute. But Jack Kirkman, vice president of strategic planning and business development, says the hospital wants to go further.

"The Providence program is ambitious, and it certainly mirrors what's occurring in the Seattle area," he said. "But we've also started the planning process to see how we can evolve."

Kirkman says it will take time — Phase 1 is 18 to 36 months out — but that the major drivers are opportunities to update equipment and to expand the hospital's physician base.

The human touch

What also needs to continue to improve in cancer care is how people are treated, officials say. That's one important aspect of Providence's cancer center.

"Cancer is a turning point for people, and they want to know who they are now and how it will impact their life," Dickson said. "Sometimes they're not going to heal, and we have to help them with that."

In recent years, most hospitals have begun cancer-survivor groups and classes. At Providence, officials are working harder to offer counseling to not only patients but members of their extended families.

"There's nothing scarier than hearing you have cancer," said Providence's McMahon. "But people all have one thing in common: They want to live."

A smile goes a long way to making it a better day, says Durrant as she nears the end of her chemotherapy session. It was her first visit to the new center.

"This facility is super," she said. "But what hasn't changed is how warm and friendly the staff is."

That's important, Durrant said, because unfortunately, she'll be back.

Christopher Schwarzen: 425-783-0577 or cschwarzen@seattletimes.com