and regular meetings to monitor progress and make necessary adjustments. Going beyond the five-year CCSG review cycle, this continuous self-evaluation ensures consistent improvement in the center’s broader mission of saving lives. The focus is on demonstrating a sustained downward trend in cancer mortality, achieved through enhanced screening, improved treatment outcomes, and encouraging patients to adopt healthier lifestyle choices—a comprehensive, holistic view of care. “We want to save lives in Hawaii and the Pacific. So, we need to continue to show that cancer mortality is going down. Now, these outcomes of improved survival don’t happen in one year; they must be more of a trend,” Dr. Ueno clarifies. And as proof of its excellence in this area, the UH Cancer Center r recently achieved its best score in history during its latest NCI designation renewal process, a direct result of its meticulous internal monitoring, and was categorized as an “outstanding” cancer center. Central to the center’s success and impact is its extensive network of partnerships, primarily with Hawaii’s leading healthcare systems. The Hawai’i Cancer Consortium comprises key players, including Hawai’i Pacific Health, Queen’s Health System, Kuakini Medical Center, Adventist/ Castle Health System, Castle Medical Center, and the Hilo Benioff Medical Center, as well as the Hawai‘i Medical Service Association and the university’s medical school, the John A. Burns School of Medicine “It’s a mutual kind of relationship. Early-phase clinical trials, such as new types of innovative trials, are handled on our side, while later-phase clinical studies are handled by the health system. But we work with all the health systems so that we can hold conferences or talk about strategy,” Dr. Ueno states. This collaborative model embeds the center’s physicians within these systems and assigns healthcare system physicians to the center, fostering a cooperative environment where expertise is shared. A significant development in recent years has been the inclusion of Hilo Benioff Medical Center on Hawai‘i Island as a consortium member, marking the first time a center outside of O’ahu has been formally integrated. This is an expansion that Dr. Ueno characterizes as crucial for reaching the nearly 400,000 residents living on Hawai‘i’s neighbor islands, helping to ensure equitable access to advanced cancer care across the state. 7 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 12, ISSUE 07 THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I CANCER CENTER
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