Spartanburg Region Health System
Left to right: Jimmy Gibbs presents Bruce Holstien (SRHS CEO), Dr. Timothy Yeatman and Dr. Mark Watson presents a $250,000 gift towards the Gibbs Health Institute (GHI), a national initiative that is said to revolutionize the way clinical cancer trials are done and how personalized medicine is delivered in the community setting.
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“We are humbled and inspired by the extraordinary generosity of Jimmy and Marsha Gibbs,” said Bruce Holstien, Chief Executive Officer for Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System. “They continuously work to ensure that our patients have access to the latest treatments in cancer care.”
The brief ceremony was held Tuesday afternoon in the lobby of the Gibbs Cancer Center & Research Institute in Spartanburg.
The initiative is priced to exceed $25 million and requires the commitment of community-based hospitals around the country to invest funds. It will result in a national network of cancer centers, community hospitals and hospital systems.
“This is all about patients. The GHI network will be able to set new community standards for genetic testing in cancer patients, and with adoption, they will rapidly become the new standard of care nationwide,” said Yeatman, Gibbs Cancer Center & Research Institute president. “GHI will collaborate with network physicians and set quality standards and metrics regarding clinical trial activities and genetic testing.”
Yeatman said Spartanburg will benefit with “more than (100) high-paying jobs” and substantial regional and national investments in the community.
“Trials will be brought to patients, instead of the current practice of sending patients to trials,” Yeatman said. “The best clinical trials will soon be made available to the local communities where more than 80 percent of patients are actually treated.”
GHI services are expected to be available once 8-10 partners have signed on with GHI.
“Currently, there is no easy way for a patient to navigate the complex task of finding a suitable drug trial. This often takes far too much time with the end result being that most patients miss the golden window of opportunity to participate in a potentially life-saving trial,” said Mark Watson, GCCRI chief operating officer. “GHI will change this by rapidly identifying trials for patients in a matter of weeks rather than months to a year.”
Yeatman said GHI, “seeks to reduce trial times from up to two years to less than six months by simply finding the right patients for the right trials at the right time.”
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