Kelly Prall: So when the patient walks in the front door they’re taken to their exam room and their seen by the nurse for a nursing assessment. Then their seen by the doctor and the doctor then kind of hands off to the naturopathic doctor and the naturopathic doctor hands off to the dietician who hands off to the care manager, and the patient is staying in one room during all of those visits so they don’t need to move around, certainly if they do need to move they can go out and use the restroom, but it’s really about them having the doctor come to them.
Gwen Salkind: It serves for the patent not to be as stressed out during the day. “Oh my goodness I have to run here, there, and everywhere throughout this clinic to see five different people”, whereas everyone is coming to see the patient, and the empowerment is that patients that are at ease do better, their less stressed out, they retain more knowledge, knowledge is power and if you are a patient that is going through chemotherapy the more you understand about your disease process and how we’re treating you the better you can ask us questions and understand and the retentions there.
Rudolph Willis: The whole goal is to keep the patient in an environment where clinicians can come to that patient in a comfortable environment. And that allows as a result for those clinicians to appropriately interact with that patient, come up with a treatment plan, a new perspective in terms of what they need to do for that particular individual and then to interact with the other clinicians before the other clinician interacts with the patient. By the time that last clinician has interacted with the patient it’s very clear what the patients’ overall treatment plan will be. I think the new model of care that we really are establishing here at this center is actually an improvement in medical care in general actually to be perfectly honest with you.
Julia Plaster: Having the team approach everyone is in the same location and you’re able to have a smooth handoff and smooth communication. In addition, this new model our patients don’t have to go to and fro to get their care. They can come to one central location, feel relaxed and comfortable and know that they’re going to be there for a while and just everyone is going to come see them.
Cheryl Butman: I’ve been a nurse a long time. I’ve seen other models that address part of your care; they address your therapy, they address your medical care your medical condition. I don’t think I’ve ever seen another hospital or another center address emotional needs, supportive things like vitamin therapy, things to help your get through chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Usually you have to go elsewhere to find those services the patient themselves and the family may have to investigate it somewhere else outside of the cancer center, or outside the hospital. This is the only place that I’ve found where all of these modalities are brought together in one place. So, when you walk through that door you don’t have to walk any further, you’re right here; everything is right here.