TRUCKEE, Calif. — One local doctor intends to prove the word “mountain” doesn't equate to mediocrity — especially when it comes to cancer treatment.

Dr. Larry Heifetz, medical director of Tahoe Forest Cancer Center, said the new center that opens March 2012, with radiation treatment online by next June, aims to be a benchmark in cancer care — not just regionally, but nationally, despite its rural location.

“We are confident this is going to set a standard for Beverly Hills, and yet be very mountain like,” Heifetz told community members at the town's Good Morning Truckee presentation last week.

According to a medical article published by Heifetz and doctors Scott Christensen, Ralph deVere-White and Fredrick Meyers, hurdles had to be overcome in the process of planning the center, such as:

• convincing physicians unaccustomed to treating cancer patients that expenditures for the center and its programs were needed,

• health care professionals resistant to changing old habits; and

• misconceptions that patients would overwhelm staff with operating room scheduling, diagnostic imaging scheduling and medicine coverage demands.

“Those barriers proved to be illusory once our medical education program and tumor boards came online, and the benefits of the program made themselves clear,” wrote Heifetz in the article.

Heifetz jump-started his presentation by addressing common fears held locally by cancer patients. Typically, death, pain and possible disabilities are universal fears; however, for those living in rural areas, these concerns often are coupled with those of receiving disorganized care, having less access to the newest treatments and burdening families.

Measure C, a brief history It would be hard to discuss Tahoe Forest Hospital District's new cancer center without mentioning Measure C, a $98.5 million bond approved by voters in September 2007. According to the hospital district, three community surveys indicated voters would support a bond for the hospital district if it was less than $100 million, and if it supported projects the community deemed as high-priority, such as an emergency department, cancer center, improvements in long-term care and for projects surrounding women and infant health, as well as seismic upgrades. In June of 2007, the district adopted a resolution asking the voters to pass a general obligation bond in the amount of $98.5 million. On Sept. 25, 2007, hospital district voters adopted Measure C with 72 percent of voters in favor (two-thirds majority needed). More information on Measure C and its continuing projects can be found at measurecprojects.com.

Disorganized care

Quality cancer treatment demands a synchronized campaign among physicians, family members and patients. The best way to facilitate the process is by going digital, Heifetz said.

The cancer center will use a new electronic medical record system to link multiple physicians to individual cancer patients, not simply the patient's oncologist (a doctor qualified to treat and diagnose cancer).

The electronic system will ensure no cancer patient falls through any record keeping cracks and will automatically and immediately keep the physicians updated on a patients status.

The system would also lessen probability for medication errors, Heifetz said.

Latest treatments

Distance to metropolitan medical centers and cancer researching universities has long plagued the Truckee-Tahoe region.

The Tahoe Forest Cancer Center will dynamically revolutionize the region's service to cancer patients through participation in the UC Davis Cancer Care Network and its Virtual Tumor Board Project, Heifetz said.

The tumor board would communicate in weekly online meetings for specific cases, essentially allowing a doctor to diagnose a cancer patient one week and speak with experts the next.

“If we had to narrow (the cancer program at the new center) down to one specific feature, the virtual tumor board is the thing that really differentiates us,” Heifetz said.

Underscoring the significance, Heifetz said it would allow patients access not just to doctors who've read about breaking cancer treatments, but to the professors who authored and tested them.

Additionally, Heifetz said the center will be National Cancer Institute-designated, a mark given to top tier cancer centers nationwide.

Yet the task of quality cancer treatment, Heifetz said, had to be more than just talk and high tech tools such as the center's new linear accelerator — a machine used for cancer radiation therapy and costing roughly $3 million.

“Thanks to Measure C, the funding was in place so we could purchase this machine,” Heifetz said.

Burden to families

“Nobody wants to be wearing a giant ‘C' on their chest,” said Heifetz, referring to the social trials cancer patients endure both in and outside of their families.

Comprehensive support services are a critical attribute of the new cancer center that will expand upon the hospital's current programs, such as assisting patients with group and individual therapy, art therapy, an exercise program, the American Cancer Society's “Look Good. Feel Better” program (assisting with cosmetic remedies such as hair loss), and the “We Care” peer navigator program coordinated with the UC Davis Cancer Center.

Heifetz said other services to aid patients at the new center will be counseling, both financial and psychological.

To learn more about the center, visit tahoecancercenter.com.