Hoag to team up with USC
Hoag Hospital will partner with USC’s Keck School of Medicine to enhance cancer treatment provided at the hospital.
The affiliation, announced Monday, comes as part of an effort to provide improved local care for cancer patients, according to a news release.
Dr. Burton Eisenberg will be executive medical director of the Hoag Family Cancer Institute, which provides cancer care on the campus. The former Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center deputy director will also be a full-time USC faculty member.
Dori Holnagel, previously the executive director of operations for Hoag Neurosciences Institute, which treats patients with a variety of neurological disorders at several locations on the Hoag campus, has been appointed executive administrator of the cancer institute.
The partnership will lead to better access to new cancer treatment therapies and will improve research, Eisenberg said in the news release. It comes at a time when patient care has become increasingly complex and demands a multidisciplinary approach, he said.
The Hoag Family Cancer Institute annually treats more than 3,000 people newly diagnosed with cancer. The hospital has comprehensive clinical programs for six types of cancers, including breast and lung cancers, that may include not only oncologists but also a navigator to help walk patients through the treatment process, plastic surgeons and survivor programs, Dr. Jack Cox, senior vice president and chief quality officer at the hospital, said in an interview Wednesday.
The new USC partnership will help the hospital to expand these programs by allowing for access to more clinical trials and helping to implement new approaches to cancer detection and care, he said.
“The Orange County community will benefit from a new, unparalleled level of cancer care that not only focuses on treating this disease but also on helping people thrive after treatment,” Robert Braithwaite, president and chief executive officer of Hoag, said in the release.
Hoag Hospital became affiliated with Catholic healthcare company St. Joseph Health System earlier this year.