Kadlec’s plans for the Tri-Cities Cancer Center after Trios and Lourdes pulled out

Kadlec Regional Medical Center will continue to operate the nonprofit Tri-Cities Cancer Center as a stand-alone entity rather than rebranding it under the Kadlec name.

The cancer center board and Kadlec on Wednesday announced the decision to keep the name and other plans as the center continues in a new era of leadership.

Kadlec also will keep the Cancer Center Foundation as a fundraising and support organization separate from the Kadlec Foundation.

The decisions were made after the Tri-Cities Cancer Center board hired a health care consulting firm with expertise in cancer care.

The firm analyzed possible paths forward for the center after talking with local people and using its national perspective to make recommendations on the center’s future.

The center was founded more than 25 years ago as a nonprofit by Kadlec in Richland, Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco and Trios Health, then Kennewick General Hospital.

At the time none of them were for-profit organizations.

But after LifePoint Health acquired the Kennewick and Pasco hospitals, discussions on how they could remain members of the nonprofit center were not successful. Both withdrew from the center earlier this year.

The cancer center was required to pay $682,000 for the two hospitals’ interests in the center, with the money going to the Kennewick Public Hospital District and to Our Lady of Lourdes Foundation, the nonprofit associated with the Pasco hospital when it was owned by Ascension, a Catholic nonprofit agency.

That left Kadlec, part of nonprofit Catholic Providence Health and Services, as the sole member, equivalent to an owner, of the cancer center, prompting the study and decisions on the cancer center’s future.

Kadlec cancer services

“My colleagues and I are excited to join our partners at Kadlec and take cancer care in the Tri-Cities to an even higher level,” said Dr. Sue Mandell, medical director of the cancer center.

One change, which the public may not notice, will be closer integration of the cancer center’s radiation oncology services into the cancer services already operated by Kadlec.

That will include Kadlec Clinic Hematology and Oncology, which has long offered chemotherapy and other services in one wing of the cancer center, although it is not part of the center.

Full integration of the center’s service that offers radiation treatment to cancer patients with other Kadlec cancer care services will provide closer collaboration on patient care services, Kadlec and the cancer center said in a joint announcement.

The Cancer Center Foundation could expand to support the entire cancer care program of the newly affiliated cancer services, the announcement said.

The foundation supports services such as screenings, classes, research and support groups at the cancer center.

Last year more than 1,500 patient screenings were done at the center and a new focus on increasing HPV vaccination rates was adopted.

“The Tri-Cites Cancer Center brand will remain intact, and over time may be expanded to incorporate cancer services across the care continuum,” according to the announcement. “The cancer center has built a strong reputation in the community and we hope to build on this strength as we continue to improve cancer services.”

In other cancer center news, Michele Caron, clinical services director, has been named interim operational leader to fill in for Chief Executive Officer Chuck DeGooyer.

DeGooyer announced in July that he planned to retire from the cancer center at the end of the year and a search for his replacement was launched.

However, he recently was injured and is expected to need to recover and rehabilitate at home for several months.

This story was originally published September 17, 2020 at 11:25 AM.