HJNO Jul/Aug 2021

a higher risk of cancer for humans in gen- eral, and all are present here in the popula- tion of Louisiana. So, I wouldn’t take Cancer Alley to mean just one thing as it relates to risk factors. Editor Let’s talk partnerships. Mary Bird Per- kins is involved in several throughout Lou- isiana. How do you enter the partnership, and how do these partnerships better serve patients? Fontenot Partnerships have been critical to our organization. They’ve been a feature of how we deliver care since the inception of the center 50 years ago, and the reason is because cancer isn’t managed by a sin- gle doctor or specialist or treatment team. Cancer involves an array of tests and sur- geons and oncologists — not just one type of oncologist, but there are several differ- ent types of oncologists that a patient may need to see depending on their diagnosis. The types of treatments they receive are also extremely varied. Some patients receive sur- gery and radiation, and chemotherapy and immunotherapy is an emerging fourth pil- lar of cancer treatment. There’s genetic test- ing. There’re follow-up imaging studies. The array of services and programs that a cancer patient needs access to is enormous. Our ability, our role in the communities that we serve is to provide, to the best of our ability, a single and unified cancer resource to our patients so that they can get the easi- est, most ready access to any care that they need possible. In some circumstances, that means being treated and cared for by Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center doctors and staff. In other circumstances, we’ve part- nered with regional and community hos- pitals who allow us to extend services and bring the entire portfolio of cancer care into a community so that a patient can access it through a single point of entry. That’s complicated, and it’s not always easy to do. Behind the scenes, there are a lot of connections that have to be made How and why did the Mary Bird Perkins partnership come about, and will you please tell us about the center? Terrebonne General Heath System and Mary Bird Perkins have worked together since 2008 building an exemplary cancer program that has improved survivorship and lessened the burden of cancer for thousands in the Bayou Region. As lead- ing healthcare organizations, we came to the conclusion that we could provide a strength in cancer care for patients that wasn’t available anywhere else. This tradi- tion continues today. Patients always do better when they re- ceive care close to home, as they are near their support systems. It also reduces the expenses of traveling for care in another city. Precision medicine, which creates the most individualized cancer care is advanc- ing rapidly. The Cancer Center offers state- of-the-art diagnostic, medical and radiation oncology services. This includes radiation therapy utilizing sophisticated technology that eliminates cancer while minimizing exposure to healthy tissue and organs. In medical oncology, we are utilizing immu- notherapy, which powers individuals’ own immune systems to help fight the disease. Our facility holds two prestigious honors. Our nuclear medicine program is an ac- credited facility by the American College of Radiology, and we are Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) certified ensuring that our facility meets the highest stan- dards and national guidelines for cancer treatment. Currently, we are expanding of our Cancer Center. We are adding a spacious infusion suite, a fitness and wellness area and an innovative group activities space for meditation and other therapies. Are there unique qualities about the population the center serves versus other facilities around the state? Looking at current data from the Louisiana Tumor Registry (LTR) that ranges from 2013-2017, in Lafourche Parish, kidney, pancreatic and bladder cancers are statistically significantly higher than the rest of the state. While we do not know the exact causes, our Prevention on the Go program provides cancer prevention and education in this area. Additionally, at this time, these are not easily screenable cancers. For Terrebonne Parish, colorectal and lung cancers are statistically significantly higher than the rest of the state. Our Prevention on the Go program is extremely active in this area, and these diseases are highly screenable. How does having a higher number of cancer patients with little or no insurance effect your mission? We are lucky to have collaborative part- nerships with other organizations that de- liver crucial safety-net cancer services for the region and help us to serve uninsured patients. In addition, this is where donor generos- ity comes into play. Many of the services, such as our robust Prevention on the Go Mary Bird Perkins Partnership, Terrebonne General Health System A MOMENT WITH DIANE YEATES Chief Operating Officer MARY BIRD PERKINS HOSPITAL PARTNERSHIPS Terrebonne General Health System Houma Our Lady of the Lake Baton Rouge Woman’s Hospital Baton Rouge