Pilot Site Profile
Spartanburg Regional, Spartanburg, South Carolina
Gibbs Cancer Center
101 E. Wood Street
Spartanburg, SC 29303
Web sites:
Hospital: www.spartanburgregional.com
Cancer Center: www.srhs.com/default.aspx?pageid=1
Ingo Angermeier, President and CEO, Spartanburg Regional
James D. Bearden, III, MD, Medical Director, Cancer Program
Background
Spartanburg Regional is one of South Carolina’s largest community-based health systems. Anchored by the Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, a 588-bed community hospital with active teaching and research initiatives, key disease efforts are organized through three centers of excellence, including cancer, heart care, and women’s health. Gibbs Cancer Center, located on the campus of Spartanburg Regional in Spartanburg, treats approximately 1,400 new cancer cases a year. The organization works closely with the Medical University of South Carolina and has an affiliation with M.D. Anderson Physicians Network®. Gibbs Cancer Center is also one of the 50 original sites designated as a CCOP by NCI in 1983.
Patient Service Area
South Carolina is a relatively small state, ranking in the middle (25th) of the U.S. states in population and 41st in geographic area. Almost half of the state is rural. Thirty-four percent of the state is minority, with African Americans representing nearly 20 percent of the state’s population. For African Americans, more than 26 percent live below the poverty level, compared to 8.6 percent of Whites in South Carolina. African American men in the state are three times more likely to die from prostate cancer than White men, and African American women are 1.5 times more likely to die from breast cancer than White women.
Access and Outreach Initiatives
Spartanburg Regional is a member of the South Carolina Cancer Alliance – an NCI funded Community Networks Program – and its physicians reach out to the poor and minority groups with cancer screening, multidisciplinary cancer treatment, as well as access to research and health education. In addition, the hospital’s healthcare providers work through churches and others faith-based organizations to disseminate cancer information and provide screening and treatment services.
