CHI Franciscan Health and Virginia Mason Medical Center, two leading health care providers in the Pacific Northwest, today began offering leading-edge radiation oncology services at Highline Cancer Center in Burien.

As part of CHI Franciscan and Virginia Mason’s clinical partnership and strategic affiliation, the new radiation oncology unit at Highline Medical Center brings expert oncology providers together with advanced radiation therapy technology, to deliver premier cancer care.

“CHI Franciscan Health is proud to work in partnership with Virginia Mason to introduce new state-of-the-art radiation oncology services at Highline Cancer Center,” Ketul J. Patel, CEO of CHI Franciscan Health, said. “Patients and families throughout the Seattle and Tacoma Metro area now have greater access to premier oncology care and services in their community.”

CHI Franciscan has invested $4 million to create the brand-new radiation oncology unit at Highline Cancer Center, which will serve cancer patients receiving care in communities between Seattle and Tacoma.

The unit features a linear accelerator, a sophisticated radiation therapy technology that allows for complex cancer treatments to be initiated sooner and provides enhanced, high quality cancer treatment.

To reduce the side effects of radiation, patients will receive highly targeted radiation therapy that uses the lowest dose possible to reduce side effects, such as skin irritation and fatigue.

“Virginia Mason and CHI Franciscan Health are charting a successful course for collaborative care in the Pacific Northwest, and the Highline Cancer Center represents the latest milestone in our partnership,” Virginia Mason chairman and CEO Gary S. Kaplan, MD, said. “We are thrilled to partner in opening the new radiation oncology unit at Highline, which will ensure patients have greater access to the highest quality cancer care.”

The program will operate similar to the successful St. Francis Hospital and Virginia Mason radiation oncology partnership model established at the CHI Franciscan hospital in Federal Way in 2003. Like St. Francis Hospital, Highline Medical Center is part of the CHI Franciscan Health organization. In addition to the new radiation oncology unit at Highline, CHI Franciscan welcomed Virginia Mason radiation oncologists Kas Ray Badiozamani, MD, and Michelle Yao, MD, to the Highline Cancer Center team.

“Joining the Highline Cancer Center will allow us to provide exceptional cancer care to even more patients across the Puget Sound communities,” Dr. Badiozamani said. “We are excited to work in partnership with CHI Franciscan Health’s team to advance radiation oncology services at Highline Cancer Center.”

In March 2017, Tacoma-based CHI Franciscan Health and Seattle-based Virginia Mason formalized their clinical partnership and strategic affiliation, designed to expand access and improve care quality and safety across the Puget Sound region. It pairs a nonreligious organization (Virginia Mason) with a faith-based organization (CHI Franciscan) for the purpose of working together as separate entities to expand access to high quality, safe, appropriate and affordable medical services.

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