To the patients, families, and caregivers served by Bayhealth’s cancer program, we want to take this opportunity to thank you for your patience and compassion for your fellow patients throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We appreciate your thoughtfulness to the physicians and staff at Bayhealth’s cancer program. You are the true heroes during this pandemic. The response to the global COVID-19 pandemic quickly took over daily operations of the cancer program and our goals for 2020. The cancer care team’s fast response to adjust to new models of care delivery, like telehealth and virtual tumor boards, was impressive. In addition, we had to change our high touch interactions with patients and caregivers to ensure everyone in the facility was in a safe environment. While we had to pause our 2020 goals so the team could focus on the safe delivery of cancer care during a global pandemic, we did have the opportunity to spend time with our physicians and frontline staff to identify areas they wanted to emphasize post COVID-19. The thoughtfulness and insight from these conversations was inspirational and we appreciate our physicians and frontline staff for their feedback. We were excited to see some of these ideas begin during the pandemic, such as telehealth for patient convenience and virtual tumor boards to reduce barriers for the care team to access the multidisciplinary environment that doesn’t involve a trip to a conference room. We look forward to a future that includes Bayhealth’s UME and GME programs, increasing clinical research opportunities, continued expansion of telehealth offerings for patient access, prevention and screening outreach in the community, and the continued relationship with Penn Medicine through the Penn Cancer Network. We are committed to carrying out the vision of our physicians and staff to reduce the burden of cancer in the communities served by Bayhealth by advancing care every step of the way throughout a patient’s cancer journey. We again thank our cancer care team for their dedication and commitment to their patients and caregivers throughout our COVID-19 journey.
Brad D. Kirkes, MBA, MHA, OTR/L, CHT, FACHE Vice President of Ancillary and Clinical Services
FROM OUR EXECUTIVES
Dear Community Members and Colleagues,
John D. Shevock, FACHE, FACMPE Senior Director, Oncology Service Line Executive Director, Bayhealth Cancer Institute
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