Abstract A128: Building sustainable partnerships between cancer centers and safety net community hospitals to increase access to and quality of cancer care
Authors: Henderson Vida , Madrigal Jessica , Gonzalez Jeanette , Martinez Erica , Tossas-Milligan Katherine , Doykos Patricia , Watson Karriem , Winn Robert 
Published: September 2020

Background: Cervical cancer outcomes are influenced by race, socioeconomic status and region. African American women have the highest mortality rate from cervical cancer and Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native women have the highest cervical cancer incidence rates among racial/ethnic groups. Disparities in cervical cancer can be greatly improved by increasing access to and awareness of Pap screening and HPV vaccination among vulnerable populations. Safety net and community hospitals offer broader opportunities to reach at-risk individuals, however these hospitals face many challenges that mirror those of the patients they serve, including: decreased access to innovative research and treatment, decreased access to the full range of specialty care, and funding challenges. Public-Public partnerships between academic medical centers, cancer centers and private service organizations that extend to safety net and community hospitals can increase cervical cancer screening rates among individuals at greatest risk. Methods: The Loretto Hospital and Norwegian American Hospital serve communities that suffer the highest cervical cancer mortality rates in Chicago. Funded by the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, the University of Illinois Cancer Center partnered with these two community hospitals located on the west sides of Chicago to increase cervical cancer screening rates through clinical and community patient navigation. Evidence based methods such as small media interventions, client reminders, and one-on-one education will also be used to increase screening awareness and education. The evidence-based, implementation science program is guided by the RE-AIM framework. Reach, adoption and sustainability will be maximized through the integration of community hubs that comprise faith-, community-, school-based organizations and policy makers. Results: The project is a three year project. Now in its pre-implementation phase, the program is currently piloting data instrumentation and implementation processes. Preliminary results will be presented at the meeting. The Partnership development phase has been achieved and Full implementation will begin August 2019. Conclusion: It is expected that building partnerships between large academic medical centers, cancer centers and community hospitals will increase the capacity of community hospitals to offer quality screening and specialized care to community members and increase access to cervical cancer screening and education among at-risk populations ultimately decreasing cervical cancer disparities among underserved populations in the University of Illinois Cancer Center catchment.

Citation Format: Vida Henderson, Jessica Madrigal, Jeanette Gonzalez, Erica Martinez, Katherine Tossas-Milligan, Patricia Doykos, Karriem Watson, Robert Winn. Building sustainable partnerships between cancer centers and safety net community hospitals to increase access to and quality of cancer care [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr A128.