Access to advanced cancer care is expanding in Norman and south-central Oklahoma with the grand opening of OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center at Norman Regional.
The new 50,000-square-foot facility was made possible through a partnership between OU Health and Norman Regional Health System. It combines medical and radiation oncology services in one location off I-35 on the Norman Regional Hospital campus.
OU President Joseph Harroz said the journey to this moment started in 2001, when the state Legislature passed a bill asking the University of Oklahoma to create a comprehensive cancer center and achieve a National Cancer Institute designation.
The OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center opened in 2011 in Oklahoma City and achieved its designation in 2018, making it one of 73 designated cancer centers in the U.S. recognized for meeting certain standards in cancer prevention, clinical services or research. In the past few years, its reach has expanded into Tulsa and, now, Norman. The new facility began seeing patients June 16.
The goal is to ensure more Oklahomans can access high-level care, Harroz said. The American Cancer Society estimates approximately 24,000 cancer cases will be diagnosed in Oklahoma this year. Annually, OU Health said more than 2,000 people in Cleveland County and south-central Oklahoma are diagnosed with cancer.
Harroz said the odds of living beyond the first year after diagnosis are 25% higher for patients who attend National Cancer Institute-designated facilities like the Stephenson Cancer Center. Bringing that care closer to home can make a difference for people south of Oklahoma City.
“Many people don't have the physical ability, the emotional ability or, [certainly], the work flexibility to go anywhere to have treatment, the sustained treatment it takes to conquer cancer, unless they have a place that is geographically convenient,” Harroz said.
The new facility houses advanced diagnostic imaging technologies, a new CT simulator and PET-CT imaging technologies. It also doubles the capacity for infusion services and features spaces for research coordinators and nurses, according to OU Health.
Although Phase I clinical trials will be offered exclusively at the center in Oklahoma City, Norman’s facility is designed to support future participation in Phase II and III trials.
Patients can also access wraparound services, including diet and nutrition counseling, social work support and genetic counseling.
OU Health President and CEO Dr. Richard Lofgren said the comprehensive academic health system recognizes its responsibility to provide the latest research-driven therapy to Oklahomans, and he is thankful for the partnership with Norman Regional to meet that commitment.
“It really is about delivering the promise of academic medicine,” Lofgren said. “What's the promise of academic medicine? Well, it means that you have access to the latest therapies, the latest research.”
President and CEO of Norman Regional Health System Dr. Aaron Boyd said he is proud to partner with OU Health and bring enhanced treatments and therapies to Norman.
“I've also personally had people in my family with cancer, including my dad, who did not benefit from some comprehensive care that would have been here now. … Comprehensive cancer care in one building is very, very unusual. And here it is on our campus,” Boyd said. “What a benefit for our patients and our community.”
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