Why is this news? Why is it new?

New patients with cancer can now see a specialist as soon as the following day at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center in Boston. 

“A cancer diagnosis creates tremendous anxiety and uncertainty for both patients and their families,” said Dr. Craig Bunnell, Chief Medical Officer at Dana-Farber. “Not everyone wants or needs to come as quickly as the next day, but for people who do, such quick access to the expertise, care and support they need is tremendously reassuring.”

“Providing next day access immediately following a cancer diagnosis is part of our commitment to patient-centered care,” said Michael J. Zinner, chairman of the Department of Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). 

Well, sure.  We all understand that.  The opposite is awful, as I related in this 2012 story about my late friend Sonya from St. Thomas, VI, after her visit to DFCI, which I did not identify at the time:

In the winter of 2010, when I was still CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Sonya called me to say she was in Boston for some tests. Biopsy results received on a Friday afternoon indicated two forms of cancer. She was in a turmoil. The people at one of Boston’s most distinguished cancer centers had given her this verdict and then told her they would set her up to meet with a medical oncologist in ten days.

Ten days? You give a woman test results showing two forms of serious cancer; she is over a thousand miles from home, staying alone in a hotel; and the best you can do is get her an appointment ten days hence? It is hard to imagine a more cruel act. We had dinner the next night, and she told me the story. I said, “We will do better for you.” I took her medical records and sent an email at 10 pm that night to several doctors at BIDMC, asking them to think about how we could help.

I called Sonya the next day, Sunday, at about 1pm, saying that someone was likely to be in touch. She replied, “Dr. Awtrey [our gynecological oncologist] already called me. He spent two hours on the phone with me this morning telling me what to expect and possibilities for treatment and promising to coordinate my care with the other departments. His secretary will pick up my medical records from your office tomorrow morning.” 

The next morning, Chris Awtrey’s secretary came by the office, and I asked her to express my appreciation to him for reaching out to Sonya on a Sunday. She looked at me with great seriousness and said, “Oh, there is no reason to thank him. Dr. Awtrey believes that the most important part of his job — before performing any treatment — is to spend as much time as necessary with a woman to help her be less anxious about her disease. That is the way he is. I can’t think of a more admirable person. It is such a privilege to work with him.”

Now, I know in my heart that the DFCI doctors are just as kind and caring as Chris. Why it took until this month to revise their procedures to give the kind of care that we would want for any member of our family is a puzzle to me. I hope and trust that their past standard of care was an anomaly among cancer centers, that their new approach is a long-standing norm around the country.