by Pamela Mooman
It’s official.
The University of Texas Health Science Center
at San Antonio and the Cancer Therapy and
Research Center have merged. An initial
agreement was signed on November 14, and
the merger was made final one month later, on December 14.
What does this mean for physicians?
“This is good for physicians,” says
William L. Henrich, MD, MACP, Dean
of the School of Medicine at UTHSCSA
and Vice President for Medical
Affairs. “They now have available, in
their own community, a rich resource
for second opinions and consultations
on treatment options. This is
truly a community resource that we
want area physicians to utilize.”
The new name will be the Cancer
Therapy and Research Center at the
University of Texas Health Science
Center at San Antonio.
“It was very important to us to
keep the CTRC’s name,” Dr. Henrich
says. “The CTRC’s level of expertise
in treating cancer is already a wellknown
asset to our medical community,
and the CTRC staff is highly
motivated and dedicated. It is one
of the most compassionate staffs in
the country.”
The CTRC serves more than four
million people in South and Central
Texas, with about 120,000 patients
each year. The CTRC Institute for
Drug Development (IDD) is recognized
internationally for conducting
the world’s largest phase I clinical
oncology drug trials.
“Our aim for the CTRC is for it to
be designated as a Comprehensive
Cancer Center, as defined by the
National Cancer Institute,” Dr. Henrich
says, adding that the merger moves this
goal closer, as it combines the attributes
from the CTRC and UTHSCSA.
“Comprehensive Cancer Centers
provide, in quick order, very up-todate,
multidisciplinary treatments,”
Dr. Henrich says. “It is our dream that
patients, no matter what type of cancer
they have, can get the very best
care in the country, right here in San
Antonio. This merger greatly benefits
San Antonio residents, as they will
have more choices in cancer care.”
While UTHSCSA will benefit from
the CTRC’s advances in cancer care,
the CTRC, likewise, will benefit from
the extensive resources offered by
UTHSCSA. Dr. Henrich says that the
health science center currently has
1600 physicians from all over San
Antonio working as volunteer faculty,
790 interns, residents, and fellows,
and 830 medical students.
“Education takes expertise,” he says,“and San Antonio has that expertise.”
Specific logistics of the merger,
such as record-keeping, are in the
developmental stage. UTHSCSA has
already begun developing an electronic
record-keeping system, selected by
the faculty, for outpatients.
“This EMR system is viewed by
most in the country to be the very
best one,” Dr. Henrich says. “The
long-term goal is to make the system
we have as simple and consolidated
as possible.”
Pamela Mooman is editor of San
Antonio Medicine.
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