Banner Health's Existing Cancer Centers

View other M. D. Anderson Banner Cancer Center news videos

Transcript:  Banner's Existing Cancer Centers

Super:  Bill Byron
Senior Director, Public Relations and Online Services, Banner Health

Image:  Bill Byron, Speaking

Audio:  “Peter, with respect to our existing cancer programs at Banner hospitals in the Valley, will they continue to operate as they always have?”

Super:  Peter S. Fine, President and CEO, Banner Health

Image:  Peter Fine on-camera, speaking.

Audio:  “Yes, it’s our intention, certainly, to do that.  We have major cancer delivery capability in virtually all of our hospitals in the Phoenix marketplace right now – greater Phoenix marketplace.  And we see those programs continuing as they are today.  This is developing a place in which one can be a high-end referral source for cases that are far more difficult and far more involved in what might be able to be handled at the local level and certain physicians may be looking for other opinions or to refer into the research environment of M. D. Anderson for certain patients that have more difficult diagnoses. 

Secondly, we know in cancer a lot of the activity that involves cancer is self-referral business – people going where they think they can get the best that they are looking for – and so we suspect there very well may be a lot of activity associated with people that are self-selecting the M. D. Anderson Banner Cancer Center for services that they are in need of. 

There are tens of thousands of visits to cancer programs outside of this marketplace today that people are looking to get some special expertise, some special protocol, some special clinical trial or get a second opinion for a more difficult diagnosis that they may have.  We think by bringing this program and putting it in place, there’s a strong likelihood that many of those people will not need to exit the marketplace to obtain or find what they’re looking for and they will have a greater capability to get into and be part of what is considered the number cancer program in the country and do it in a more convenient fashion.”