State’s cancer care has come a long way
To the editor:
We at the Nevada Cancer Institute want to take this opportunity to respond to recent letters to the editor regarding university system Chancellor Jim Rogers and other cancer patients leaving the state for cancer surgery.
At NVCI, our goal is to become a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. Even the highly demanding national model does not promote the idea that one cancer center can be all things to all people. Rather, they prefer that each center develop three or four areas of cancer expertise due in part to the research emphasis of the standards and the unique nature of each community.
You can never begrudge someone with cancer any of their choices about their care, including one to leave the state, because every cancer and every family is different. At NVCI, we work every day to reach more Nevadans suffering from this disease. Yet, ultimately, some people will always leave the state to receive highly specialized care. NVCI in turn treats many out-of-state patients who leave their home states seeking the expertise of our physicians.
As the state’s official cancer institute, we are committed to reducing the burden of cancer for all Nevadans. Since opening the doors to our flagship facility in September 2005, we have treated more than 4,300 patients. We offer research-linked chemotherapy, radiation oncology, imaging, pathology and the only Phase I clinical trials in the state. Before NVCI existed, Nevadans had to leave the state to access many of these cutting-edge therapies.
We have improved the lives of thousands of Nevadans through our outreach and education programs, teaching them the importance of prevention, early detection and healthy living. Through our navigation services, we have touched the lives of hundreds of cancer patients and their families, connecting them with resources here in Southern Nevada and through our satellite offices in Elko, Fallon and Reno.
This year, we embraced a new partnership to lead oncology services at University Medical Center, allowing us to further extend our mission and reach even more cancer patients in need.
Sandra Murdock
LAS VEGAS
THE WRITER IS PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE NEVADA CANCER INSTITUTE.
Safety facade
To the editor:
Bravo to Jane Ann Morrison for her Saturday column, “Monte Carlo fire may have been an accident, but it didn’t have to happen.” Ms. Morrison addressed “laziness and lackluster supervision,” a safety behavior deficiency that continues to plague the health and safety of most every employee and company in business today.
Human behavior is the monster here. Our culture must change its perspective concerning workplace safety. Until then, rushing, frustration, fatigue and complacency on the job will continue to deliver daily fatalities, injuries and property damage. If employees and companies do not demand safe work procedures for themselves, all the permits in the world, issued or not, will continue to be a paper trail of nothing but lip service and a facade for safety.
James M. Green
LAS VEGAS
Stimulus vote
To the editor:
I was outraged that Senate leadership postponed the vote on the tax rebate package until Monday to attempt to accommodate a couple of senators who are gallivanting around the country campaigning for a new job.
As far as I’m concerned, the presidential candidates should forfeit their vote since it appears that their personal interests override the business of the American people.
And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., says that the Republicans stand in the way of getting things done!
R.A. Salter
HENDERSON
Access to parks
To the editor:
Your Tuesday newspaper featured an article headlined “Report: Drop in outdoor activities withers muscles, but also weakens care for nature.” The article, citing all sorts of declining statistics, laments that people aren’t visiting national and state parks like they used to and instead are opting for TV and video games as leisure activities.
Last spring, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, my family decided to drive out to Floyd Lamb State Park and have a picnic by the pond, instead of sitting in some restaurant. Sundown not expected for a few hours, we arrived at the gate at 4:30 p.m., sandwiches in hand, ready to pay the substantial entry fee.
But we were told by the guard to make a U-turn and get out; the park was closing in a half-hour. So what did we do? We decided to pick up a video and have our picnic on the floor in front of the TV. It cost us half as much as admission to the park, and the video store was actually open.
To me there’s no big mystery: If we want to encourage people to visit parks, let’s stop locking them down like Fort Knox and running them on bankers’ hours.
Cynthia Gordon
LAS VEGAS
