Dr. Leon Yoder

Dr. Leon Yoder: My name is Dr. Leon Yoder; I’m a gastroenterologist here at Cancer Treatment Centers of America. When I first came to work at Cancer Treatment Centers of America I was walking into the lobby and I saw so many people in the lobby and I saw employees and they were all smiling, and I knew they weren’t smiling at me just as I was entering the door for the first time but that smile was more deep than what I really recognized because I saw that smile the next day, and the next day and the next day. I said, “What’s going on here?” I find out these people are either patients or they’re employees, I couldn’t tell who was which, who was who.

This implied to me that people that work here, who are patients here are some of the happiest people I’ve ever met in my life, and I said, “There’s something done right here, not only to the people that work here but also to the patients that come here.” That was the first most striking finding that I ever noted coming into an institution. I’ve been to many hospitals before, but I’ve never seen that happen. It’s an institution that provides all the services under one roof.

My previous employment was with many hospitals, now I have time to see patients. I have time to sit down with them and their families, I can discuss their diseases with them, I can discuss the therapies that they need, I can discuss the type of diagnostic tests that are needed and I have time now to listen to what they have to say. I never had that opportunity completely, now I cherish that time that I have with patients. Probably that’s the most important factor coming here to Cancer Treatment Centers of America is that now I have time to spend with my patients.