Regional Cancer Collaboration Improves Patient Care

In August 2023, Magruder Hospital, Firelands Regional Medical Center, Fisher-Titus Medical Center and NOMS Healthcare announced a collaborative effort to support cancer care across the region. This collaboration is in conjunction with University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center. Affiliated physicians have provided comment about positive aspects of the collaboration, especially for patient care.

Timothy Adamowicz, D.O.

Oncologist with NOMS Healthcare

Cancer care is so academic and dynamic that oncology departments in small- or medium-sized hospitals tend to struggle keeping up. Our collaborative efforts have allowed each cancer program to grow and thrive. We have tied together the programs of University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, Firelands Regional Medical Center, Fisher-Titus Medical Center, Magruder Hospital and NOMS Healthcare to minimize redundancy and maximize our ability to provide the highest level of care without requiring patients to travel. It also allows us to provide the same standard of care as major academic centers, but with a much more patient-focused model at a lower overall cost of care. This is only the beginning. We have laid the groundwork to bring additional services and specialties to our region. Direct competition between each of our institutions would only hinder our overall ability to provide top-notch patient care.

I am a medical oncologist. This collaboration goes far beyond my specialty. Here are some benefits that I have observed:

• The pulmonary team can now use endobronchial ultrasound, which is used for minimally invasive screening and diagnosis of lung cancers, and testing lymph nodes without having to go into surgery.
• The radiation department, led by Norleena Poynter, M.D., and multihospital radiology and urology specialists, has been able to adopt prostate PMSA PET scan and new cutting-edge radiation techniques for detection of prostate cancer.
• The Center for Breast Care, with Fredric Itzkowitz, D.O., general surgeon, and his colleagues, have raised the level of their breast care program through regularly scheduled tumor board meetings and literature discussions to the level of the top tier academic centers.
• It has supported the collaboration and recruitment of Jason Robke, M.D., to do higher level oncologic surgery for esophageal and lung cancer patients in our region.
• It has supported the decisions at Fisher-Titus to dedicate a pharmacist to cancer care and upgrade the electronic medical record system to provide efficiencies for chemotherapy.

I am very proud of how far we have come. The synergy of these different programs has enabled our program to grow and develop significantly in the four years since I joined, much of which can be credited to this collaborative endeavor. We have laid the foundation for the ongoing expansion of services and the addition of specialties in cancer care in our area, as well as benefits in other areas not related to cancer care. This collaboration primarily benefits the patients, but also benefits every institution within the framework.

Yaser Al-Marrawi, MD.

Hematologist and medical oncologist with NOMS Healthcare

I am a hematologist and medical oncologist and have been with NOMS Healthcare since July 2023. The availability of having various sub-specialties on site is invaluable. This includes radiation oncology, several surgical teams, interventional radiologists, gastroenterology, and pathology. We also have the ability to collect a second read by another pathologist at University Hospitals if needed. We’re at the forefront of quality standards of care

I am happy that I joined NOMS Healthcare in conjunction with Firelands Regional Medical Center and Fisher-Titus. I can see very strong potential for both of these cancer centers to grow with the potential to recruit more cancer providers to serve the patients in our region.

Norleena Poynter, M.D.

Radiation Oncologist with Firelands Physician Group

With this collaboration, I think most cancer patients would be surprised to learn that their individual cases are reviewed by a team of physicians. Each of these physicians brings their respective academic training from institutions across the country, as well as their years of experience treating patients. While our patients may meet face to face with a single medical or radiation oncologist, their treatment plans are being analyzed, discussed and refined with consulting specialists at other well-known institutions. Their cases are even assessed for available clinical trial enrollment.

If our team of oncologists find that there are treatments or imaging modalities that our patients are having to travel for, we work together with administrators at Firelands Health to assess the ability to bring these modalities here locally. Like Dr. Adamowicz, I’m very proud of the work we do and what we can offer patients locally. A great oncology program is a team sport!

Amy Reese, M.D.

Hematologist and Oncologist with NOMS Healthcare

I have been serving this five-county area over 15 years. In working with the medical staff of our community hospitals, our mission has been to provide expert care for cancer and blood diseases close to home. Keeping the services local is essential, not only for the convenience and comfort of our patients, but this is a lifeline for our communities. It sustains job development in the healthcare field at all of our hospitals. We also promote educational activities for high school and college students who may return to our area to serve the community after they complete higher education.

Our collaboration through multidisciplinary tumor boards and the coordination of care between our surgical, radiation and medical oncology colleagues allows patients to seamlessly navigate an ever-complex healthcare system. This also cuts down on the medical costs by keeping care local and minimizing time and financial constraints from traveling to larger medical centers whenever is possible to treat them here.