UA seeks new downtown Phoenix partner as St. Joe’s links with Creighton

[Source: Angela Gonzales, Phoenix Business Journal] — The University of Arizona is canceling talks with St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center to jointly develop a cancer center in downtown Phoenix now that St. Joe’s has forged a solid academic affiliation with Creighton University School of Medicine.  Dr. William Crist, UA’s vice president for health affairs, said he is concerned there won’t be enough room for UA medical students because St. Joe’s agreed to make Creighton’s 84 medical students a priority.  “We’re not mad,” he said.  “We’re still friends.  But there can only be one primary affiliate partner.”

Suzanne Pfister, vice president of external affairs for St. Joe’s, said she’s disappointed.  “But we’ve still got a number of collaborations with them,” she said, adding that St. Joe’s will continue to grow its cancer program.

Crist said UA has solid partnerships with the majority of the Valley’s hospitals, including Banner Health, Carl T. Hayden Medical Center, Maricopa Integrated Health System, Mayo Hospital, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and Scottsdale Healthcare.  His job will be to see which of those facilities will be willing to partner with UA to help finance the expansion of its cancer center in Phoenix.  “Plenty of people are interested,” Crist said.  “We are talking to a lot of people to get the best plan.”

He said the cancer center most likely would be built near the Phoenix Biomedical Campus, which houses the medical school and the Translational Genomics Research Institute.  He envisions an outpatient center that would be anywhere from 200,000 square feet to 250,000 square feet, offering medical oncology, laboratory testing, imaging and radiation therapy.  “We have relationships with almost every health system in town in terms of rotating medical students,” Crist said.  “The only question is who has the capacity to be a primary affiliate partner when we expand and develop more than ever before.”  [Note: Read the full article at UA seeks new downtown Phoenix partner as St. Joe’s links with Creighton.]