Newswise — SEATTLE - Patients in north Seattle and north King County communities can receive expert cancer care closer to home from Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) at UW Medicine’s Northwest Hospital & Medical Center campus. The new clinic joins SCCA Radiation Oncology, which has provided services at Northwest Hospital for the past several years.

“At SCCA we pride ourselves on providing world-class cancer care for our patients and we are proud to expand this care in north Seattle,” said Norm Hubbard, executive vice president of SCCA. “We look forward to bringing SCCA cancer services in a new and innovative way to the North End community.”

SCCA at Northwest Hospital will offer a variety of services, including medical oncology, hematology and radiation oncology, provided by leading medical and radiation oncologists from UW Medicine. Additionally, cancer patients who receive care from SCCA at Northwest Hospital have access to clinical trials on the latest and most innovative treatment options, conducted by researchers from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and UW Medicine. For many patients, these clinical trials offer treatments that are not available elsewhere in the community and may be the best chance for a cure.

“SCCA Radiation Oncology has provided outstanding care to our patients for the past several years, and we are delighted to add SCCA Medical Oncology to our comprehensive cancer program,” said Cindy Hecker, executive director at Northwest Hospital. “Our goal has always been to offer our community exceptional cancer care, close to home."

To develop the new medical oncology clinic, designers used a unique approach called integrated facility design. The goal of this approach is to improve the patient’s experience by creating a treatment space focused on efficient and personal patient care. Instead of simply working within the existing pre-built space, the design team created a life-size model of the clinical space out of cardboard and examined a variety of factors that could improve the typical patient experience. From changing the location of a door to setting up universal treatment rooms where patients can have appointments and procedures in the same room, every inch of the clinic was designed with the patient’s needs in mind.

“The design of this clinic is a very novel approach that has generated a lot of excitement among the physicians and staff involved in its implementation,” said Oliver Press MD, PhD, a UW Medicine physician specializing in lymphomas who also serves as the director of the clinical research division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. “I am optimistic it will create a user friendly clinic that will benefit both the patients and physicians.”

For more information on the new clinic please visit http://www.seattlecca.org/scca-nw-hospital.cfm. For details on the unique design approach used please watch the following brief video.

About Seattle Cancer Care AllianceSeattle Cancer Care Alliance is a cancer treatment center that unites doctors from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, UW Medicine and Seattle Children’s. Our goal, every day, is to turn cancer patients into cancer survivors. Our purpose is to lead the world in the prevention and treatment of cancer. SCCA has five clinical care sites: an outpatient clinic on the Hutchinson Center campus, a pediatric inpatient unit at Seattle Children’s, an adult inpatient unit at UW Medical Center, and a medical oncology clinic at Evergreen Health, and medical and radiation oncology clinics at UW Medicine / Northwest Hospital & Medical Center. Additionally, proton therapy services are provided at SCCA Proton Therapy, A Procure Center. For more information about SCCA, visit www.seattlecca.org.

About UW MedicineUW Medicine’s mission is to improve the health of the public by advancing medical knowledge, providing patient care, and training the next generation of health professionals. Our system includes Harborview Medical Center, Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, Valley Medical Center, UW Medical Center, UW Neighborhood Clinics, UW Physicians, UW School of Medicine and Airlift Northwest. UW Medicine is affiliated with Seattle Children’s, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the Veteran’s Affairs Healthcare System in Seattle, and the Boise VA Medical Center in Idaho. UW Medicine also shares in the ownership and governance of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and Children’s University Medical Group. Visit http://uwmedicine.org for details. Twitter: @UWMedicine.

About Northwest Hospital & Medical CenterFounded in 1960, Northwest Hospital & Medical Center is a full-service, non-profit hospital located just north of downtown Seattle. With 281 licensed beds, more than 1,900 employees and all private rooms, it offers some of the most innovative, technologically advanced medical care available. Major clinical programs and services include: inpatient, outpatient and emergency services; primary care; cancer care; cardiac care; neurosciences and a Level 1 stroke center; orthopedics and sports medicine; childbirth services; multiple sclerosis center; hernia center; geropsychiatric center; and education and wellness programs, among others. In 2010, Northwest Hospital joined the UW Medicine health system. For more information about Northwest Hospital and its programs and services call 206-364-0500 or visit nwhospital.org.