The Office for Cancer Health Equity
Established in 2019, the Office for Cancer Health Equity (Office) fosters research, outreach, and training that measurably reduces the cancer burden among vulnerable populations within the catchment area of the Penn State Cancer Institute. The Office use a community-engaged approach to support culturally sensitive, high-impact, and sustainable changes in the community and clinics in central Pennsylvania.
Community engagement is achieved through community advisory boards and networks of trained peer educators, including community health workers, promotoras and patient navigators. In addition, the Office engages community members as advocates for policies and programs that enhance public health and improve cancer outcomes.
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Penn State Cancer Institute
The Penn State Cancer Institute in Hershey, PA
Based on the campus of Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pa., Penn State Cancer Institute is committed to fighting cancer on every front: through education and prevention, early detection and diagnosis, effective treatment and survivorship programs. Clinical services are offered in Hershey and at two other locations in central Pennsylvania – State College, Pa., through a partnership with Mount Nittany Health and Reading, Pa., at Penn State Health St. Joseph.
At our primary location in Hershey, our facility provides patients access to all aspects of care in a single destination including:
- Infusion therapy suites and private rooms for chemotherapy
- A state-of-the-art radiation oncology suite for treatment options that refine tumor targeting and reduce treatment time, such as RapidArc radiotherapy
- A chemotherapy and infusion pharmacy staffed by clinical pharmacists and certified pharmacy technicians
- An outdoor healing garden that offers a quiet retreat for both patients and families
Seamlessly integrating these services creates a real-time medicine model that helps ensure each patient receives the right diagnosis and the right therapy at the right time.
Integrated in the same building where patients receive leading edge care for nearly 100 percent of cancer types, research is also underway into the causes, cures and prevention of cancer.
The Cancer Institute has three research programs focused on the themes of Population Health and Cancer Control, Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis and Experimental Therapeutics. Additionally, pediatric cancer research led by faculty at Penn State Children’s Hospital and Penn State College of Medicine is a highly visible part of the Penn State Cancer Institute and greatly benefits from THON and Four Diamonds.
With a research presence in Hershey and at the University Park campus, the Penn State Cancer Institute is the centerpiece of Penn State’s commitment to discoveries that will lead to the prevention, treatment and cures for cancer.