Huntsman site soon to treat patients

MURRAY — The Jon and Karen Huntsman Cancer Center will begin treating patients in early February, the first of the facilities on the new Intermountain Medical Center campus in Murray to be completed.

Several hundred health care providers, officials and others gathered Tuesday afternoon for lunch and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Starting Feb. 5, outpatient radiation treatment will be offered in the three-story, nearly 48,000-square-foot cancer center. Other services, including diagnostic, treatment and treatment planning will be phased in over the year, culminating with the opening of the entire Intermountain Medical Center in October.

It's designed as a one-stop center, said Dr. Brett Parkinson, director of breast-care services for Intermountain Healthcare. The multidisciplinary care team will meet regularly to discuss patient cases, then the patient can come in for a two- to three-hour appointment during which he or she will meet with genetic counselors, surgeons, plastic surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation therapists, social workers, financial counselors and others, as appropriate. The patient will also, during such an appointment, learn of clinical trials that might be helpful.

The center will have close ties to another cancer facility that bears the Huntsman name, the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) and its adjoining cancer hospital at the University of Utah. They plan to work together on research, they are jointly recruiting an outcomes specialist and they will share what they learn about cancer and its treatment, said Dr. William Sause, director of Intermountain Healthcare Cancer Services. They will also hold some joint tumor conferences.

Cancer has now surpassed cardiovascular disease as the No. 1 killer of people under age 85, said HCI executive director Dr. Mary Beckerle. Worldwide, it kills 6 million people a year, 2,500 of them in Utah. Cancer is also the No. 1 disease killer of children. Young or old, rich or poor, men or women, the disease doesn't care, she said.

"Hope" was a running theme during the gathering as Jon and Karen Huntsman were hailed for their vision and philanthropy, although Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. quipped that he hoped he inherited his "mother's prostate," not his dad's. Huntsman Sr. was diagnosed with and treated for prostate cancer in the early 1990s.

"Some day, somehow, we will end this cursed disease," Huntsman Sr. vowed. "We have to. We have to."