M.D. Anderson looking at San Antonio
Cancer institution may collaborate with UT health center in Alamo City
SAN ANTONIO — The University of Texas Health Science Center has launched discussions with the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to explore ways to expand cancer care in San Antonio, an executive vice chancellor confirmed Tuesday.
Collaboration between the two health care institutions would allow San Antonio residents traveling to M.D. Anderson for cancer treatment to receive much of that care closer to home, said Dr. Raymond Greenberg, the UT System’s executive vice chancellor for health affairs. Both institutions are part of the UT System.
Greenberg said in a statement issued by his office Tuesday that Chancellor William McRaven “has challenged all of the UT institutions to partner together to better serve the citizens of Texas. In that spirit, UT M.D. Anderson and UT Health Science Center San Antonio are exploring ways that they can leverage their collective resources to expand cancer services in San Antonio.
Top ranking
M.D. Anderson is widely regarded as one of the best cancer centers in the nation. It was designated the top cancer center in the country in U.S. News & World Report’s most recent hospitals rankings issued in July — a distinction it has held for 11 of the past 14 years — based on its reputation with specialists, patient survival rates 30 days after admission, patient safety, patient volume and other factors.
To be determined
The health science center in San Antonio, which includes the Cancer Therapy & Research Center, said discussions have just begun, so the specific details are still being determined.
Neither side said much about their discussions Tuesday. Both issued only short prepared statements.
A formal presentation on a potential collaboration between the two institutions hasn’t yet been presented to the UT System’s Board of Regents, but the board’s leadership has been briefed informally, said spokeswoman Karen Adler.
The Cancer Therapy & Research Center has provided cancer care to patients in San Antonio and South Texas for more than 40 years. It became part of the health science center in 2007. It is one of four cancer centers in Texas designated by the National Cancer Institute. The institution managed a budget of more than $53 million at the time of its 2015 annual report.
UT Health Science Center spokesman Will Sansom did not respond to a request for the cancer center’s current number of employees and total number of faculty members.
M.D. Anderson was created in 1941 as part of the UT System. It was one of the country’s first three comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Act of 1971.
Employs 21,000
Today, M.D. Anderson employs nearly 21,000 people, including more than 1,700 faculty members. More than 135,000 patients were cared for there in the 2015 fiscal year — 28,167 of those were inpatient hospital admissions. Its total revenue last fiscal year was nearly $4.5 billion.
For the first seven months of the current fiscal year, M.D. Anderson had a $160.5 million decrease in adjusted income compared to the same time period last year, according to financial documents presented at a UT System Board of Regents meeting held last week.
That nearly 57 percent drop was largely due to increased expenses and decreased patient revenues resulting from the launch of a new electronic health record system placed into service in March, according to an explanation of variances from the UT System Office of the Controller.
Patient volumes and associated revenue are returning to normal two months after the launch, M.D. Anderson spokeswoman Julie Penne said. Expenses related to the launch have decreased significantly over time as planned, she said.