Four cancer-care medical practices have restructured and changed their names to Summit Cancer Centers in the latest shifting in cancer care services here.

Dr. Arvind Chaudhry, medical oncologist and director of Summit Cancer Centers, says this new integrated cancer care network for Eastern Washington and North Idaho is intended to provide a full range of care services to cancer patients in the Inland Northwest. 

 “Cancer care is already difficult to coordinate,” says Chaudhry. “Our goal is to revamp the delivery network, giving patients access to state-of-the-art facilities, clinical experts, and the finest technology, without having to travel or wait.”

Chaudhry says it is not unusual for patients to forgo needed care when it is difficult to access. 

“Cancer treatments involve an urgency in diagnosis, and rapid treatment. This consolidation allows the patient to see the right people sooner, saving the patient time and unnecessary anxiety,” he says.

This latest move merged four area medical practices, formerly known as Spokane Valley Cancer Center, Medical Oncology Associates, Spokane CyberKnife, and Northwest Oncology, under the Summit Cancer Centers name.  

John Driscoll, business development officer for Summit Cancer Centers, says of the consolidation, “This was done to clarify and rebrand the various facilities, formerly separate LLCs, under a new corporate name with common branding, logos, management and physicians.” 

Summit Cancer Centers ownership didn’t change as a result of the consolidation. The company’s ownership group includes medical and radiation physicians practicing at the Summit centers in the Spokane area, along with Select Health Partners, the radiation technology company partner of Summit Cancer Centers. 

Summit Cancer Centers now has three locations, including one in North Spokane, one in Spokane Valley, and one in Post Falls, each with a chemotherapy infusion center and research facilities. All existing facilities, physicians, and clinical staff already have transitioned to using the new name, and all that remains is the installation of new signage at each location.  

Summit Cancer Centers is an independent cancer care organization, offering medical and radiation oncology, advanced medical imaging, and chemotherapy infusion services. Summit is also a member of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) Network, which gives physicians throughout the Pacific Northwest access to doctors from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of Washington Medicine, and Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Through this membership, oncologists at Summit can offer patients access to the latest treatment options, the ability to participate in clinical research trials, consultations with an SCCA physician about diagnosis, and treatment plans. 

According to Chaudhry, for cancer care to improve, facilities need to provide patients with the ability to participate in research trials. 

“For us to learn from and improve cancer care, we need patients to have access to these new drugs, and new technology. By giving them the option of participating, patients have access to these new treatments as they develop, and we are better able to learn which of those treatments are working,” he says.

Chaudhry says consolidations like this one are becoming more common in the health care market, as they are a pathway to keeping costs down. 

“Costs have skyrocketed in many health care areas, but cancer care in particular is very expensive treatment. Our hope is that through consolidation we can improve access, and provide quality care at a more reasonable cost,” he says. 

While all Summit locations feature comprehensive medical oncology services, only the Spokane Valley location, at 13424 E. Mission, currently includes a complete stereotactic radiation oncology suite featuring both of the latest in nonsurgical radiation treatment options, a CyberKnife robotic radiosurgery system and a TrueBeam linear accelerator. 

CyberKnife is a frameless, robotic radiosurgery system used for treating benign tumors, malignant tumors, and other medical conditions. TrueBeam is an advanced image-guided radiation therapy system that’s used to treat cancer with speed and accuracy while avoiding healthy tissues and organs.

“We are the only facility east of the Cascades that has a Cyberknife available. This can be used on any part of the body, and cuts a seven-week treatment down to five days,” Chaudhry says. “Similarly, Truebeam is top of the line technology, enabling us to conduct radiation treatments more precisely, with fewer side effects, in half the time.” 

Summit just opened its Post Falls location this month. Located at 1641 E. Polston Avenue, the 10,500-square-foot facility is located on the Northwest Specialty Hospital campus, and shares space with the North Idaho Neurosurgery & Spine surgical center. That facility also features a TrueBeam machine, as well as offering radiation and medical oncology professional and technical services. 

The North Spokane facility at 6001 N. Mayfair, currently includes a fixed PET/CT scanner and plans to add other treatment services, possibly expanding to include a radiation center in the near future. 

Summit Cancer Centers also owns and operates a second, mobile PET/CT scanner which serves both the Spokane Valley and Post Falls Centers. This year, the mobile unit will be deployed to Summit satellite locations in Colville and Colfax, as well as to communities in North Idaho. 

Chaudhry says this will allow Summit to bring an important element of cancer care to outlying regions. 

“The unit will visit these communities for a few days at a time, and include a medical oncologist. This brings that technology to communities which otherwise have no ability to access it,” he says. 

Chaudhry estimates the three facilities have a total staff of about 60, which rotates to serve different locations depending on patient needs.

 “Right now, we are working to develop this new delivery system, but eventually we would like to expand the staff to include more specialists and continue to give patients access to the very best care,” he says.

Reflecting the competitiveness and cost-sharing focus picking up here in cancer care services, Providence Health Care, Kootenai Health and Cancer Care Northwest announced in January they had formed an alliance under the name InnerPacific Alliance for Cancer Care LLC, the plans for which first were disclosed in May 2013.

Elaine Couture, CEO of Spokane-based Providence Health Care, said in a press release that the name “expresses the intended purpose of the alliance to provide integrated and comprehensive cancer care for patients in the Inland Northwest, with a full range of treatment options and supportive care to meet the needs of every patient.”

This isn’t the first time those alliance partners have worked together in different combinations, but it’s anticipated to be farther reaching and to have broader benefits than prior collaborations.

In announcing preliminary plans for the alliance two years ago, the partners described it as the first step in creating an environment that will make local advancements in cancer care possible. Some of the envisioned benefits, they said, include adoption of evidence-based clinical protocols, medical research, and clinical trial opportunities that bring additional treatment options to patients, improved physician recruitment, and added community education and prevention programs.