FIRST-CLASS TEAM. WORLD-CLASS TREATMENT YOU DESERVE.

By: Chuck DeGooyer, CEO, Tri-Cities Cancer Center

2019 was a year of celebrating 25 years of service in our community and continuing our focus to ensure cancer patients receive the world-class treatment they deserve, right here at home. As I reflect on 2019 and look at 2020 and beyond, there are a number of important updates that I would like to share about your Tri-Cities Cancer Center.

In 2019, we continued to educate and provide services throughout our community focused on the prevention and early detection of cancer. We completed over 1,000 patient screenings in 2019 and will continue to emphasize that effort in 2020. The early detection of lung and colorectal cancer will continue to be our primary focus because they are two cancers often diagnosed in late stage. Our goal is to detect cancer at an early stage to improve patient outcomes and save lives.

On the prevention front, we introduced two new offerings to the community in our 25th Anniversary year as part of our Cancer Crushing Cuisine program. First, we offered cooking classes at Red Mountain Kitchen in downtown Kennewick and partnered with local chef Kyle Thornhill, to bring delicious and healthy, cancer-fighting dishes to the plates of over 90 participants. In September, our Tri-Cities Cancer Center Foundation held an amazing culinary experience called DINE OUT at the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center in Prosser. Over 250 participants tasted and voted on their favorite cancer-fighting dish prepared by amazing chefs from ten local participating restaurants. Both of these successful programs will continue in 2020.

Our partnership with the Benton Franklin Health District began focusing on increasing HPV vaccination rates in 2019 throughout Benton and Franklin counties and will continue well into the future. We are emphasizing the increase of HPV vaccination of 9 to 14 years olds so that we can prevent HPV-related cancers later in their life.

Our partnership continues with large employers with our Cancer Crushing Executives program, which promotes evidence-based practices to keep employees healthy by targeting the leading causes of cancer. We continue to work hand-in-hand with the University of Washington, the Washington State Department of Health, and the most senior leaders from the region’s largest employers to improve the health and wellness of their employees, who collectively represent 30,000 employees and 100,000 lives when you consider their families.

For the third time, the Tri-Cities Cancer Center was selected by Modern Healthcare as one of the 2019 Best Places to Work in Healthcare. This award is based upon our employees’ responses to national survey questions about their satisfaction working at the Cancer Center. The award means so much to our team who take great pride in the care and service they offer our patients and their families.

To better serve our patients throughout the region, we opened a new satellite office in Hermiston in 2019 to care for patients in Oregon and to work in partnership with physicians at Good Shepherd Medical Center. We are also establishing strong partnerships with physicians at Prosser Memorial Health, Astria Sunnyside Hospital, and St. Mary’s Cancer Center in Walla Walla to better serve their patients and their families.

The Tri-Cities Cancer Center has served our community for over 25 years and we look forward to expanding our partnerships and services throughout the region in 2020 and beyond. We thank our many volunteers and generous donors every day for your support of our efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of our residents. Together, we commit to ensuring that you receive the world-class treatment you deserve, right here at home, from our compassionate first-class team.

We are your Tri-Cities Cancer Center.