Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Among First Washington Healthcare Providers to Receive COVID-19 Vaccine

Leading cancer center is one of 17 healthcare organizations in Washington State to receive early doses of recently approved vaccine; move will protect those serving cancer patients and help ensure access to high-quality cancer care

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA), the only National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)- member cancer center in Washington state, was selected by the Washington State Department of Health to be one of the first 17 sites to receive the recently authorized COVID-19 vaccine. SCCA will receive a portion of the 32,000 doses allotted to Washington State hospitals and will vaccinate its staff, helping to protect the vulnerable patient population that SCCA serves and preserving access to cancer care in the Puget Sound region.

“SCCA is pleased to be working with the Washington State Department of Health and to receive a portion of the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine here,” said Nancy Davidson, MD, president and executive director of SCCA. “By giving this vaccine to our clinical staff, we will be able to provide an extra layer of protection against the virus to our patients. In a time when many healthcare providers are having to scale back services because their staff are sick, this move also will help us ensure that we can continue to offer the care and support that our cancer patients need.”

As a leading cancer treatment center in the Northwest, SCCA has more than 1,700 employees who serve nearly 44,000 patients with different types of cancer each year, including patients who come to the Pacific Northwest for bone marrow transplantation. Data from the COVID-19 & Cancer Consortium, or CCC19, published in The Lancet shows that cancer patients are at high risk for complications from COVID-19, particularly patients with hematologic malignancies.

“Being in Seattle, the first epicenter in the U.S. for COVID-19, SCCA has been at the forefront protecting cancer patients from SARS-CoV-2 virus,” said Steven Pergam, MD, MPH, medical director of infection prevention at SCCA. “This vaccine, and others coming through the research and clinical trial pipelines, is the first step in the fight to protect our frontline and other essential staff who make it possible to bring life-saving cancer care to those who need it.”

At SCCA, the health and safety of patients and staff are top priorities. Thorough COVID-19 infection prevention and safety measures remain in place at SCCA to protect patients, caregivers and staff. These include screening upon entry, universal masking, on-site testing, use of telemedicine services and limiting patient visitors.

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About Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) brings together the leading research teams and cancer specialists from Fred Hutch, Seattle Children’s and UW Medicine — one extraordinary group whose sole purpose is the pursuit of better, longer, richer lives for our patients. Based in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood, SCCA is the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer center in Washington state, as part of the University of Washington Medicine, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Children’s consortium. SCCA has nine clinical care sites in the region, including a medical oncology clinic at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland; hematology/medical oncology and infusion services at Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue, medical and radiation oncology clinics at UW Medical Center – Northwest Seattle, medical oncology services SCCA Peninsula and medical oncology services at SCCA Issaquah, as well as Network affiliations with hospitals in five states. For more information about SCCA, visit seattlecca.org.

Contacts

Karina San Juan-Guyton, [email protected] or (206) 606-1926

Heather Platisha, [email protected] or (206) 606-7239