Photo courtesy of Inova
Inova Schar Cancer Institute
All too often, cancer patients are given the worst news of their lives, handed a list of doctors and left to figure out the next steps. When this happens, patients can experience undue stress and treatment can be delayed. This is exactly what the Inova Schar Cancer Institute (ISCI) works to avoid.
Now in its fifth year, ISCI integrates new treatments with tried-and-true patient support services. According to Jennifer Bires, executive director of Life with Cancer and Patient Experience at ISCI, what sets Inova apart is the breadth of services that they offer to everyone in the community, not just patients.
2023 Stats-at-a-Glance
- 48,000 unique cancer patients
- 106,095 clinic visits
- 20% clinic visit growth compared to 2022
- 49 new studies
- $20.5M philanthropy funds raised
- $25M financial assistance
The Inova care model relies on a few key principles. Each patient receives a nurse navigator and patient coordinator who helps them make decisions about next steps. In addition, the system is designed to have physicians — including the numerous specialists who are often involved in cancer treatment — in close proximity in order to minimize stress and the need to travel.
Photo courtesy of Inova
Dr. John Keeken
“We also have a high focus on clinical research and offering new treatments that are becoming available by the month and by the day,” said Dr. John Deeken, president of ISCI and medical director for the Inova Schar Head and Neck Cancer Program. Deeken came to Inova from Georgetown 11 years ago and has been a part of planning the ISCI care model from the beginning.
Life with cancer: Meeting every need
However, medical treatment is only one part of the cancer care equation. As a young child, Bires watched her mother battle cancer. Although her mother received excellent medical care, there was a lack of support for the family enduring pain and stress alongside her. Bires became a social worker with the goal of supporting patients and families like hers.
Photo courtesy of Inova
Jennifer Bires
Now, she leads the Life with Cancer program, which has existed at Inova for 30 years. In her work, she aims to meet patients where they are. Patients don’t exist in a vacuum, Bires says, and physicians need to understand what matters to their patients.
“Patients are whole people and they bring so much richness with them,” Bires said. “And if we treat a person like cancer or like a broken arm or whatever it is that they are coming in to see us, we really miss out on so much.”
The Life with Cancer program has physical locations within each branch of Inova and all of its components are available throughout the system. This includes everything from counseling and support groups to exercise classes, massages and acupuncture. In other health systems, these kinds of programs tend to be spread thin, but thanks to strong philanthropic support, Inova’s Life with Cancer program is able to maintain relatively high staff ratios.
For Bires, patient-centered care means that the health care system should not add to the trauma that patients are experiencing. The system should recognize that patients are not merely defined by their disease and should aim to improve people’s quality of life, not just keep illness at bay.
This can mean any number of things, like taking a patient’s schedule into account to make sure that they can get treatment and still go to their kid’s baseball games. Or it can mean original art in the treatment facilities, or a volunteer playing violin in the lobby.
Photo courtesy of Inova
Inova Life With Cancer Fitness Class
“Nobody says, ‘Hey, let me go hang out at the cancer center,’” Bires said. “But because you have to be here, we can add to your quality of life.” For example, behavioral health therapists can help patients learn anxiety-coping skills that can help them navigate their cancer diagnosis and the rest of their lives.
Looking to the future
In its first five years, ISCI has grown in ways that surpassed Deeken’s expectations. That means that they have needed to add hours and find creative ways to use space — and they look forward to expanding their services with the Inova Alexandria Hospital at Landmark, which is scheduled to open in 2028.
The Life with Cancer program continues to receive generous funding from the Peterson family, longtime Inova donors who helped establish the program. The family announced another $20 million gift in April, the bulk of which will go to the Life with Cancer program. The program will be renamed Inova Peterson Life with Cancer.
A major challenge in cancer treatment is screening and prevention, and it is a big part of the ISCI initiative moving forward. They have worked with community groups to recruit patients and host screenings. At a recent event in May, they had more than 700 attendees who received colon cancer screenings, skin checks and more. The team at ISCI continues to look for ways to grow, but as they reflect on five years that ended up being more tumultuous than they bargained for, there’s a lot to celebrate, too.
“I’m incredibly proud of the team and the resilience we showed,” Deekend said, "the compassion, empathy and energy we showed to patients who were going through not only their worst news of having cancer, but then trying to do it during COVID.”
