Pilot Site Profile
Columbia St. Mary’s, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Columbia St. Mary’s Cancer Center
Web sites:
Hospital: www.columbia-stmarys.com
Cancer Center: columbia-stmarys.com/OPage.asp?PageID=OTH000078
Leo P. Brideau, President and CEO, Columbia St. Mary’s
Brian Cramer, Executive Director for Cancer Services, Principal, Investigator/NCCCP Pilot Leader
Carl Olson, MD, Physician Director/Medical Director, Cancer Program
Background
Columbia St. Mary’s is comprised of four hospitals (three acute care and a rehabilitation hospital) and 30 clinics that serve patients throughout Southeastern Wisconsin. In 2006, Columbia St. Mary’s broke ground on a new 40,000 square-foot Cancer Center, to be completed in January 2008. The Cancer Center, on the Milwaukee campus of Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital, will bring together cancer services offered through the other system hospitals. All three hospitals share information technology and electronic health records, and have a single cancer registry providing services to each facility. The organization saw 1,630 new cancer patients in 2005.
Patient Service Area
Within the metropolitan Milwaukee area, there is a significant and growing Hispanic population. Milwaukee County has 18 percent of the state’s population, or 940,000 people, and ranks fourth highest among U.S. cities in its rate of child poverty. The county reports higher than expected levels of colon and prostate cancer. More than a quarter of Milwaukee residents fall below the poverty level.
Access and Outreach Initiatives
The hospital owns 30 clinics, most of them primary care, and six free clinics that routinely identify hundreds of patients who require follow-up oncology services. The hospital has a relationship with the Medical College of Wisconsin that operates the Saturday Free Clinic to serve uninsured and underinsured adults four times a month.
