Loma Linda Cancer Center

LOMA LINDA, California-Loma Linda University Medical Center has established a new cancer center under the direction of Mark Reeves, MD, PhD, professor of surgery at Loma Linda University and chief of the Section of Surgical Oncology at the Loma Linda Veteran’s Administration.

 The 11,000-square-foot phase 1 stage of the new center was opened on February 15 (see photograph). The center will occupy an anticipated 75,000 square feet when all four planned stages of improvements are completed. LLUMC has already recruited eight new specialists in surgical, orthopedic, gynecologic, thoracic, and medical oncology to lead key initiatives within the new cancer center.

“A key provision of our multi-phase expansion was to bring all of our cancer services together under one roof,” said Judy Chatigny, RN, MSN, executive director of the cancer center. With the phase 1 opening, she said, all medical oncology services can be accessed in one location.

The LLU Cancer Center includes a proton treatment program, surgical robotics program, breast MRI, infusion center, patient navigators, biospecimen tissue lab, and the resources of an academic medical center with its own school of medicine. The cancer center’s 11 “centers of excellence” include breast, thoracic, genitourinary, pediatrics, blood and marrow, gynecologic, neurologic, skin/melanoma, gastrointestinal, head and neck, and soft tissue/skeletal.

LLUMC, a Seventh-Day Adventist institution founded in 1905, is among the largest private medical education centers in the United States and the only one in inland Southern California.

Confetti marks the grand opening celebration of Loma Linda University Medical Center’s Comprehensive Cancer Center.
From left to right, Ruthita Fike, CEO/administrator, LLUMC; Jan Wong, MD, chief of surgical oncology, LLUMC; Jerry Slater, MD, chair, Department of Medicine, LLUMC; C.S. Chen, MD, chief of medical oncology, LLUMC; Roger Hadley, MD, executive vice president of medical affairs, LLU Adventist Health Sciences Center; Judy Chatigny, RN, MSN, executive director, LLU Cancer Center; Larry Sowers, PhD, associate dean of basic sciences, LLU School of Medicine; and Mark Reeves, MD, PhD, medical director, LLU Cancer Center.