And that, Yu said, means always seeking new breakthroughs, new standards of care, making them become available to patients, and always innovating.<\/p>\n
The designation as a Care Partner of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center means all of those things, and more, are now baked in to how the Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute works, he said.<\/p>\n
It took a lot of work to get there.<\/p>\n
While Hartford HealthCare<\/a> has had a 10-year relationship with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, a decision was made to lay the groundwork for accelerating breakthroughs and progress.<\/p>\n \u201dWe decided that we could come together,\u201d Yu said.<\/p>\n Hartford HealthCare<\/p>\n Dr. Peter Yu, medical director of the Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute<\/p>\n So, for the last six months Hartford HealthCare has looked at more than 500 measures of quality and \u201cwhat have we accomplished \u2026 are we delivering the quality\u201d and \u201cwhere we want to go,\u201d and whether that meets the standard of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Yu said. Hartford Healthcare and MSK both did scoring, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe achieved concordance in our quality,\u201d Yu said. \u201cWe are publicly stating we have completed this quality assessment.\u201d<\/p>\n In terms of achieving concordance, Yu said an example is looking at how Hartford Healthcare is doing cancer services, or oncology. It\u2019s an operational assessment of how the system is doing in the different departments, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe looked at how are we doing in the most common cancers, among five most common, how are we doing in these five major areas, we found our quality, our delivery of cancer care was equal to MSK,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The deep dive looked at all seven Hartford Healthcare hospitals, in pathology, pharmacy, radiology, nursing and more, he said. The health system has 45,000 employees and it \u201cinvolved engaging the front lines troops\u2026 thinking about how we can do better.\u201d (Manchester and Rockville locations are not yet included, as they are new to the system).<\/p>\n \u201cIt really was an all hands on deck,\u201d effort, Yu said.<\/p>\n Hartford HealthCare noted that its first location to complete this process and fully align with MSK Standards of Care\u2122 was in Fairfield County,<\/a> and that set the stage for the systemwide adoption.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a transformative moment for cancer care in Connecticut,\u201d said Jeffrey A. Flaks, president and CEO of Hartford HealthCare. \u201cThrough this expanded partnership, patients across our entire health system will have easier access to groundbreaking treatments, clinical trials, and pioneering research. This is about delivering world-class cancer care close to home.\u201d<\/p>\n Delivery of care to patients<\/p>\n Yu, again looking to the future, said \u201cWe are now able to set the course for the next 10 years; our relationship with MSK is renewed for the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n This is significant as things are \u201cmoving even faster now in terms of cancer breakthroughs,\u201d and the relationship with MSK means \u201cgreater coordination of new breakthroughs and research for our patients,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cCancer deaths have been decreasing by 1 to 2% a year,\u201d Yu said. \u201cIt could be even better than that, it could be even faster than that.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the ways to achieve this is having doctors with sub specialization, or doctors focused on particular cancers, which will allow Hartford Healthcare experts to talk with MSK doctors who are also sub specialists about what they know, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we are trying to do here is make it immediate if there has been something that has been discovered or learned,\u201d Yu said. \u201cSo that there isn\u2019t this gap, there isn\u2019t this delay.\u201d<\/p>\n This is a critical question across the entire country, and \u201cwe are working to create the model that addresses this problem,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Yu noted that it takes about 10 years for medicine in general from when a breakthrough happens to when it becomes available for patient care.<\/p>\n Yu calls this \u201cthe last mile,\u201d noting that means knowing \u201cyou have the answer, but how do you bring it to the patient?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think it is really remarkable how two very different organizations have been able to come together and build a relationship over the last 10 years,\u201d Yu said. \u201cConcordance is a milestone in that partnership. It is about the patients, it is about improving their health\u2026<\/p>\n Further, he said, it also is aimed at reducing the anxiety cancer brings, and supporting the patients and their families.<\/p>\n Yu noted that many patients feel the need to seek a second opinion, which can delay treatment due to waiting, and the opinions can differ.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are trying to remove a barrier so patients don\u2019t have to go get a second opinion,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is baked into our system that the recommendations are the same.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Peter-Yu.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Hartford](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/thc-l-cancercarecenter-0525-02.jpg\")
Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute Fairlfield Cancer Center, A Care Partner of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/THC-L-Hartford_07.jpg\")
A view of Hartford HealthCare in downtown Hartford. (Aaron Flaum\/Hartford Courant)<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/THC-L-Hartford-HealthCare_01.jpg\")
Hartford HealthCare. Hospital (File photo)<\/p>\n