JACKSONVILLE, Fla — It’s been 10 years since the Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center opened in San Marco in 2018. Dr. Bill Putnam is the Medical Director of Baptist MD Anderson. He says the Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center was created as a partnership between the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Baptist Health. This partnership was designed to bring world-class multidisciplinary cancer care to Jacksonville.
Dr. Putnam says, “ We’ve really been able to create a model of care here that provides for each patient personalized therapy. That personalized team of specialists can consist of medical oncologists. surgeons, support team, nurse navigators, genetic counselors, dietitians, and nutritionists. That team will have a “cancer conference” and focus on that one patient’s clinical condition and the characteristics of their cancer diagnosis to provide the treating physician with the very best treatment possible and recommendations that can be applied and make a shared decision with the patient and the family, the best course of treatment for that patient. “
MD Anderson has campuses downtown, at Baptist South, and at Baptist Clay, all to meet the needs of patients in those communities. MD Anderson expects to expand even further to meet the needs of patients in the beaches area and north towards Nassau County.
The mission of the MD Anderson Cancer Center is “ Making Cancer History.” However, Dr. Putnam says, “ sadly, we will take care of 10,000 new cancer patients this year.”
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