The James

The Other Team in Columbus

As much as we enjoy blogging and reading about sports, games and our favorite OSU teams, there is another team in Columbus playing a much more serious game; the game of life. Whenever one hears or sees anything about ‘OSU’, the initial reaction is probably about football and basketball. The other nationally ranked team at OSU is at the Ohio State University Medical Center. Specifically, those at the he Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. Officially the OSUCCC-James, colloquially, it’s ‘The James’. Most of my articles generally have a back-story and this is no different. The Director of the OSUCCC, Dr. Michael A. Caligiuri, hails from Buffalo, NY.

For most, if not all of you, cancer is all too personal due to family members and/or friends dealing with this disease. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, below.

Number of deaths for leading causes of death (2010)

This is the first of a several part series covering ‘The James’. I had a few questions about The James and they were answered by Eileen Scahill, Media Relations Manager, Ohio State University Medical Center. Without further adieu, Part 1.

Can you please start out with an overview of The James’ mission? That might lead to the following questions…

Our Vision
Creating a cancer-free world. One person, one discovery at a time.

Our Mission
To eradicate cancer from individuals’ lives by creating knowledge and integrating groundbreaking research with excellence in education and patient-centered care.

Overview
It is the Midwest’s first and Ohio’s only fully dedicated cancer hospital and research institute, The OSUCCC–James is one of the nation’s premier cancer centers for the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer.

It’s one of only 41 centers in the United States designated by the National Cancer Institute a Comprehensive Cancer Center. In addition, the OSUCCC–James is a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), an alliance of 21 of the world’s leading cancer centers that develops clinical practice guidelines to improve the quality and effectiveness of care provided to patients with cancer.

The cancer program at Ohio State encompasses more than 200 comprehensive cancer center members from 13 of the 18 colleges at The Ohio State University and includes physicians from 16 specialties. The OSUCCC–James’ singular focus on cancer has led to multiple accomplishments that have changed the standards of care with respect to prevention, diagnosis and treatment, in a way that substantially improves outcomes for cancer patients.

In 2009, The Ohio State University Board of Trustees approved a $1 billion expansion of the cancer hospital and Medical Center facilities, including a new 276-bed* cancer hospital and critical care building. This expansion sets Ohio State apart as a national leader in innovative cancer care by supporting new, high-quality, patient-centered, personalized medicine. The new hospital will have increased capacity to help keep pace with the projected 21 percent growth in admissions during the next decade.

The new Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute and critical care tower has been designed around a visionary construction model, which includes integrated spaces for research, education and patient care. It will be a living, working model of P4 Medicine and personalized health care, transformative concepts in modern healthcare practice and delivery. (P4 Medicine is predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory.)

The new James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute’s state-of-the-art facilities will allow significantly more patients and families to access Ohio State’s unique and exceptional services. It will allow the Medical Center to serve 310,000 patients annually. It will support high-quality, patient-centric medicine, which is making health care more effective and affordable.

*This figure does not include ICU beds.

OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center

Established in 1973 as a cancer center and received the NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center designation in 1976.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center the highest possible rating – “exceptional” – after completing its scientific peer review of the University’s cancer program. This action renews the Ohio State University’s designation as an NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center for at least another five years.  This rating and re-designation came after a thorough review by a 28-member peer-review panel appointed by the NCI of Ohio State’s nearly 1,500-page application and a three-day site visit in May 2010. The panel deemed Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center as “the model for other matrix university-based centers.”

The NCI’s panel of reviewers noted that there has been “substantial improvement in every dimension of this cancer center. The remarkable growth is highlighted in the impressive trajectory of high-impact publications, NCI support, (and several) multi-investigator grants…along with the recruitment of 159 cancer-focused investigators in key areas that will provide new and exciting research opportunities.”

During the past 15 years, the OSUCCC – James has recruited some of the world’s leading cancer researchers and seen extraordinary growth in its science-based clinical programs. Because of that, Ohio State’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) funding has more than quadrupled, making this University the 15th highest NCI-funded cancer program in the nation.

The 18 Shared Resources provide investigators with easy access to specialized technologies, services, methodologies and consultation that catalyze abilities to conduct cancer research. Through the leadership of skilled faculty and technicians, these shared resources provide cost-effective, reliable and quality services for our researchers.

Ohio States’ Comprehensive Cancer Center–James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute

Ranked as one of the top cancer hospitals in the nation, the 205-bed adult cancer clinical care facility is one of 11 DRG- or PPS-exempt institutions in the United States.

Our ability to translate groundbreaking cancer research into innovative patient care distinguishes The James as an academic medical institution and positions us for a leadership role in personalized medicine.

Our multidisciplinary and multi-modality approach to cancer care includes disease site groups with surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, radiation oncologists, researchers and more, all collaborating to provide the latest in cancer diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

The hospital also includes a 24-bed bone marrow transplant unit, intra-operative radiation therapy, special isolation rooms, chemotherapy and special transfusion areas and specialized diagnostic equipment. It also has a 9-bed clinical trials unit for early phase investigational drug delivery. The OSUCCC–James is one of only seven centers in the country approved by the National Cancer Institute to conduct both phase I and phase II clinical trials for new anti-cancer drugs.

Ambulatory patients access services from a variety of outpatient facilities located on campus and across central Ohio. In 2011, the 114,000 square foot Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center opened near the hospital.

OSUCCC–James is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer and the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy. Consistently ranked among the top hospitals in America by U.S. News & World Report and The Leapfrog Group, OSUCCC–James was a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the Alliance of Dedicated Cancer Centers. Ohio State’s cancer program is also part of the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s LIVESTRONG™ Survivorship Center of Excellence Network, one of only eight such centers in the nation.