In a recent opinion piece in VTDigger, Randall Holcombe, M.D., M.B.A., professor of medicine, chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology, and director of the UVM Cancer Center, wrote about rural cancer care initiatives. “Cancer shouldn’t be harder to fight just because you live in a small, rural community. It’s time to change that and make Vermont a model for rural cancer care nationwide,” he stated.
Challenges of cancer care in rural communities include the difficulty of recruiting oncologists to rural areas, and the tough reality that rural patients are more likely to die from cancer than those who live in cities. The UVM Cancer Center’s mission is to reduce the burden of cancer for everyone in Vermont and northern New York. That means making sure people in every corner of this catchment area, especially those in rural communities, have access to expert, academic-level cancer care.
“At the UVM Cancer Center, we are starting this work today, and we believe our efforts will improve the quality of care, reduce the burden of cancer on patients, and lower overall health care costs.” — Randall Holcombe, M.D., M.B.A.