University Healthcare rebrands cancer program

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- WVU Medicine University Healthcare officials announced today (May 4) plans to rebrand the Eastern Panhandle-based regional cancer program with the WVU Cancer Institute in Morgantown.

According to Anthony P. Zelenka, University Healthcare president and CEO, the name has changed to the WVU Cancer Institute – University Healthcare Regional Cancer Center. The cancer services are based at Berkeley Medical Center in the Dorothy A. McCormack Center.

The University Healthcare cancer program has received accreditation with commendation by the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons since 2008. The program was initially established in 1991 at City Hospital, now known as Berkeley Medical Center.

“We are extremely proud of the level of cancer services that we provide the residents of the Eastern Panhandle,” Zelenka said. “As an affiliate of the WVU Cancer Institute, we will focus even more on delivering the very best in today’s cancer treatment close to home.”

The University Healthcare Regional Cancer Program was approved to begin offering clinical trials for new and innovative cancer treatments in 2007. This was a direct result of the program’s affiliation with West Virginia University and the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center in Morgantown.    

According to WVU President E. Gordon Gee, this action supports the University’s mission.

“WVU's responsibility as a land-grant University is to bring the benefits of research, education, and cutting-edge healthcare to every West Virginian," he said. "We have taken that to a new level today, as we fully embrace the cancer team at Berkeley Medical Center as partners in the WVU Cancer Institute family."

Photo identifications: From left to right -- Hannah Hazard, M.D., WVU Cancer Institute surgeon in chief and director of clinical services; Anthony P. Zelenka, president and CEO of WVU Medicine University Healthcare; Clay B. Marsh, M.D., vice president and executive dean of WVU Health Sciences; Richard A. Pill, J.D., chairman of the WVU Medicine University Healthcare Board of Directors; Albert Wright, Pharm.D., president and CEO of WVU Medicine-WVU Hospitals and COO of WVU Medicine-West Virginia University Health System; M. Page Jones, M.D., Terrence Reidy, M.D., and Eric Bonnem, M.D., oncologists at the WVU Cancer Institute - University Healthcare Regional Cancer Center; E. Gordon Gee, J.D., Ed.D., president of West Virginia University; and Christopher C. Colenda, M.D., M.P.H, president and CEO of WVU Medicine – West Virginia University Health System.