Cancer Center of Santa Barbara and Sansum Clinic Announce New Partnership

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., July 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, leaders from Cancer Center of Santa Barbara and Sansum Clinic, along with their affiliated physician groups, announced that the organizations will forge a new partnership with a shared vision of enhancing cancer care in the community. 

The Boards of both nonprofit organizations have voted unanimously in favor of the partnership, and the organizations plan to finalize the transition in the coming months.

Rick Scott, Cancer Center of Santa Barbara president, stated that he and "the Center's trustees are very enthusiastic about what this partnership will mean for our community's cancer patients.  The exceptional care the Cancer Center has provided for over 60 years will only be enhanced by this partnership, now and in the future." 

"This partnership will allow us to bring new services and ensure that the Cancer Center remains in the vanguard of oncology treatment facilities on the West Coast," said Kurt N. Ransohoff, M.D., CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Sansum Clinic.  "The partnership will also provide for better information sharing and coordination of care, allowing us to offer the highest quality, most compassionate care.  And increasing the scope of our services means patients will have less need to travel outside our community for highly specialized treatments."

"Patients, their families, and the broader community will benefit from this partnership," said Fred Kass, M.D. Director of Research & Wellness at the Cancer Center of Santa Barbara. 

"Greater collaboration, expanded clinical research, and the ability to combine resources in the recruitment of highly-trained physicians and staff, and the acquisition of new technology, will enable us to continue delivering exceptional and comprehensive cancer care and treatment to those touched by cancer in our community," added W. Warren Suh, M.D., M.P.H., Medical Director of Radiation Oncology at the Cancer Center of Santa Barbara.

Cancer care at Sansum Clinic will become part of the joint organization, which will be called Cancer Center of Santa Barbara or "Cancer Center" for short.   The tag line "with Sansum Clinic" will be added to the name whenever the new entity's logo is displayed, both on signage and on all printed materials.  Cancer Center's endowment, major assets and fundraising team will be renamed the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara and will carry on the 63-year mission of raising funds to support world-class cancer care in our community.

Both Cancer Center and Sansum Clinic are longtime nonprofit providers of quality healthcare. The two organizations share the same values, based on compassion and integrity, and will continue to keep true to these principles as they move forward together. Independent philanthropic organizations including the Mosher Foundation and Santa Barbara Foundation endorse this new alliance between two highly respected nonprofit organizations because it will improve access to quality cancer care in our community. 

About Cancer Center of Santa Barbara
Cancer Center of Santa Barbara is an independent, nonprofit corporation, providing state-of-the-art cancer treatment.  Since 1949, through the charitable giving of families and foundations, Cancer Center has stayed in the vanguard of comprehensive, non-surgical, outpatient cancer care.  By retaining highly trained and devoted medical personnel, acquiring the latest technology and protocols, and integrating patient support and wellness programs, Cancer Center treats those on the journey to live with, through, and beyond cancer.  For more information, visit www.ccsb.org/withsansumclinic.

About Sansum Clinic
Sansum Clinic is the largest independent nonprofit healthcare organization between the Los Angeles Basin and the San Francisco Bay Area.  With more than 150 affiliated physicians, Sansum Clinic provides the full spectrum of healthcare services, from primary care to more than 30 specialties.  Sansum Clinic serves more than 150,000 patients (600,000 visits) annually at their 20 patient care facilities between Carpinteria and Santa Maria.  For more information, visit www.sansumclinic.org/cancer-center-partnership.

SOURCE Sansum Clinic