Cancer Center
Cancer Center
When you or a loved one gets a cancer diagnosis, life can suddenly feel overwhelming.
At the Providence Cancer Center, our team provides all the care, support and resources you and your family need – from treatment to survivorship – at one convenient location. We help you navigate your cancer journey every step of the way.
As Alaska’s only full-service cancer center, we provide the most advanced diagnosis and treatment therapies, including clinical trials. At the same time, we surround you and your family in a warm and welcoming environment, right here at home.
Your cancer care team answers your questions, helps you understand your treatment options and works with you to create a personalized care plan for your body, mind and spirit. We support you every day so you can focus on getting better.
Providence Cancer Center is nationally accredited by the Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons. The CoC Accreditation Program provides the framework for the Providence Cancer Center to improve its quality of patient care through various cancer-related programs that focus on the full spectrum of cancer care including prevention, early diagnosis, cancer staging, optimal treatment, rehabilitation, life-long follow-up for recurrent disease, and end-of-life care.
When patients receive care at a CoC facility, they also have access to information on clinical trials and new treatments, genetic counseling and patient-centered services, including psycho-social support, a patient navigation process, and a survivorship care plan that documents the care each patient receives and seeks to improve cancer survivors’ quality of life. For more information, visit the American College of Surgeons website.
At Providence, we are equipped to diagnose and treat a wide range of cancers, including:
- AIDS-related cancers
- Bladder cancer
- Bone cancer
- Brain cancer
- Breast cancer
- Cervical cancer
- Colorectal cancer
- Endometrial cancer
- Esophageal cancer
- Head and neck cancer
- Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Kidney cancer
- Leukemias
- Medication
- Radiation oncology
- Surgery
- Supportive care, such as:
- Acupuncture
- Nutrition counseling
- Oncology rehabilitation
- Spiritual care
- Lee Sheffield Infusion Center
Our certified oncology nurses skillfully administer biotherapy, blood products and chemotherapy in a relaxing setting at our infusion center. You can visit with family, listen to music or watch a movie. We provide 10 private rooms and a 5-chair group space for treatment. Our comfort rooms give you space to relax between infusions. - Alaska CyberKnife Center
CyberKnife provides painless, precise and high-dose radiation therapy to treat many different cancers. CyberKnife adjusts to tumor and patient movement during treatment with sub-millimeter accuracy. This non-surgical treatment also treats non-cancerous conditions such as:- Acoustic neuroma
- Arteriovenous malformation
- Trigeminal neuralgia
Throughout your cancer journey, your doctor may recommend our support services, such as:
- Art therapy
- Behavior counseling
- Drug cost recovery
- Financial counseling
- Nurse/patient navigator services
- Nutrition classes
After you complete treatment, our survivor resources provide programs and support to help you stay healthy and tackle the physical and emotional challenges that come after treatment.
Many support services are available free of charge thanks to the Friends of the Providence Cancer Center and generous support from our community. You can access many services no matter where you receive treatment.
At Providence, you receive care from a multi-disciplinary, integrated team. This means you get access to the combined skills and experience of many health care professionals, including:
- Advanced care providers – physician assistants, advanced registered nurse practitioners
- Behavioral counselors
- Chaplains
- Clinical dietitians
- Genetic counselors
- Nurses
- Oncology doctors and specialists
- Patient navigators
- Social workers
Our cancer teams meet weekly at cancer conferences to review and discuss all cancer cases. This forum lets many experts be involved in your treatment process and ensures we provide the best possible treatment for each patient.
At each cancer conference our specialists discuss, evaluate and review:
- Clinical trials considered
- Diagnostic images
- Patient medical information
- Potential courses of treatment
Making a referral to the Providence Alaska Cancer Center has never been easier. Electronic referrals made through the EPIC Electronic Health Record order system allow for faster and more efficient scheduling for patients.
If you do not have access to EPIC then, then you can download a Cancer Center referral form. However, it is highly recommended that referrals be made electronically for more efficient processing.
If you have questions, review overview of the Cancer Center referral process or call if you experience any issues making a referral.
We provide free hats, wigs and a unique understanding of patients experiencing appearance-related changes during treatment. Our volunteers are skilled at finding and fitting the right style and color of wig that will meet your needs.
We also have certified mastectomy fitters who are qualified to provide or supervise the assessment, treatment plan development, implementation, and follow-up and practice management of patients using external breast prostheses and other post-mastectomy services. Together with our volunteers, they are integral to the physical and emotional well-being of patients, providing instruction and training on how to properly use and maintain post-mastectomy products.
Advance Care Planning is a recurrent, life-long process of communication (verbal and written) between you, your trusted decision maker(s), and your health care team that is focused on your preferences, values and goals when facing serious illness or end-of-life.
Patients with decision-making capacity can now verbally designate a trusted decision maker, which doctors can document in your electronic health record. A trusted decision maker note is not a legal document. It does not take the place of state laws. Having a trusted decision maker in your life allows them to share crucial information with your doctor and family when needed or requested.
Patient Navigation
The Providence Cancer Center Navigation team helps patients access cancer care and better navigate the health care system. Our focus is on support for the patient and their families throughout the continuum of cancer care. Our department can assist with making informed decisions about treatment options and coordination of care. In addition, we can help patients overcome barriers to care by assisting with travel, lodging and community support resources.
These services – many provided at no charge – are made possible through generous donations to the Providence Alaska Foundation. All patients that receive cancer treatment at the Providence Cancer Center will have a navigator assigned to them. For more information call 907-212-4770.
Our Stories
Everyone is affected by cancer. Some are fighting it; others are supporting the fight. We listen to your stories and gather strength from your determination to finish cancer.
-
Logan
-
Brook and Ella
-
Tom and Eric
-
Terry and Sawyer
-
Jennifer