Citizens Health is proud to announce a new collaboration with The University of Kansas Cancer Center that will expand access to specialized cancer care for patients across northwest Kansas while helping keep care closer to home.
Cancer affects countless individuals and families throughout our region. For many rural patients, receiving specialized cancer care often means traveling long distances for appointments, consultations, treatments, and follow-up care. This new collaboration is designed to reduce that burden by bringing more specialty expertise and services to northwest Kansas.
Citizens Medical Center will continue providing the quality cancer care patients have come to expect. Through this collaboration, patients will also gain access to physicians from The University of Kansas Cancer Center who specialize in specific cancer types. The first specialties available through the collaboration include melanoma and genitourinary cancers, such as prostate cancer. Additional specialties, including lung, head and neck, malignant hematology, breast, and gastrointestinal cancers, are expected to be added in the coming months.
The partnership creates a coordinated approach to care between Citizens Health and The University of Kansas Cancer Center. Physicians from The University of Kansas Cancer Center have joined the medical staff at Citizens Medical Center, allowing local teams and specialty providers to work together on treatment planning and patient care. The collaboration is further supported by advanced practice providers, nurse navigators, and telehealth capabilities that help connect patients with specialized expertise while remaining close to home.
One of the most significant benefits of this collaboration is that many components of a patient’s cancer journey can take place in Colby. Imaging, infusion services, care coordination, and other aspects of treatment can often be provided locally rather than requiring patients and their families to travel long distances. In addition, evidence-based treatment plans developed by The University of Kansas Cancer Center have been integrated into Citizens Health’s electronic health record system, creating a seamless experience for both patients and providers.
“This new collaboration will allow expanded access to specialty cancer care through The University of Kansas Cancer Center and allow for our teams working together, keeping care close to home for patients and their families,” said David McCorkle, CEO of Citizens Health. “This is critical for rural communities throughout Kansas as we continue to identify new ways of delivering care in a changing healthcare landscape.”
The collaboration was supported in part through the Rural Health Transformation Program, which has helped strengthen oncology services at Citizens Health through investments in diagnostic technology, community health resources, pharmacy systems, and electronic health record enhancements.
This effort reflects a shared commitment to ensuring that patients in rural Kansas have access to advanced cancer care without leaving their communities. By combining local care with specialty expertise from one of the nation’s leading cancer centers, Citizens Health and The University of Kansas Cancer Center are working together to improve the cancer care experience for patients and families throughout the region.