Dr. Heifetz Discusses Rural Oncology Care
Laurence J. Heifetz, MD, medical director, Gene Upshaw Memorial Tahoe Forest Cancer Center, discusses rural oncology care.
Laurence J. Heifetz, MD, medical director, Gene Upshaw Memorial Tahoe Forest Cancer Center, discusses rural oncology care.
About 20% of the US population lives in rural areas, Heifetz says. This means that those people have less access to state-of-the-art medical care, particularly cancer care, which is expensive and difficult. Heifetz says that when a patient is living far away from a thought center, which are in most major cities across the country, they will not get care as quickly as a patient who lives within the city limits.
At the Tahoe Forest Cancer Center, a system has been put in place to address the needs of the 4 largest cancers that make up 80% of diagnoses—gastrointestinal, genitourinary, lung, and breast cancer. Heifetz says that this remote facility has partnered up with the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, and is now a part of the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Care Network, which is comprised of 4 rural cancer centers.
