City of Hope adds 7 clinics with acquisition of cancer-focused medical group

Thousands of cancer patients in Orange and Los Angeles counties will now have access to the renowned treatment and research of City of Hope, the organization’s leaders said in announcing the center that is investing $1 billion into a new Orange County complex is also expanding to clinics throughout the area.

In its effort to extend its reach further into Orange County and make better accessible its elite cancer care, the Duarte-based treatment and research center said it had acquired Pacific Shores Medical Group, a Long Beach-based cancer center with facilities in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

City of Hope leaders said they consider the deal a joining of forces, and believe the union will provide more ways for cancer patients to receive advanced care while expanding access to clinical trials with diverse groups of patients.

With the purchase, the cancer care group adds seven clinics to its network, including three in Orange County: Huntington Beach, Irvine and Newport Beach. The four others are in Glendale, Torrance and Long Beach.

Dr. Simon Tchekmedyian, CEO of Pacific Shores, said his organization and City of Hope have a shared culture and mission to provide top-notch care for patients with cancer. When considering how incorporating resources from both institutions could enhance offerings to people who come through its doors, “It was clear that it was a good option to join forces,” he said.

“We can now improve the access at the level of our communities, for patients in our back yard, to the expertise, and to the vast number of clinical trials and resources that City of Hope has to offer,” Tchekmedyian said. “So we are joining, and really bringing to our patients more – more resources, more expertise, more trials, more cancer-curing options. And we are so excited about that.”

Details of the purchase, which was finalized Friday, Aug. 6, were not disclosed.

Broadening its footprint has been a focus for City of Hope, which is investing in Orange County to expand services there, shortening the commute for cancer patients and their families to get treatment. Its breadth of care will eventually be offered at a trio of new facilities in Orange County: Two outpatient care centers and a cancer-focused hospital near The Great Park in Irvine.

Its first expansion into the county – an outpatient center in Newport Beach – opened in January 2020. A 190,000-square-foot outpatient hub adjacent to the planned hospital and to be named the Lennar Foundation Cancer Center is expected to debut next year, and the hospital is scheduled to be unveiled in 2025.

The incorporation of Pacific Shores’ physicians and staff will help City of Hope speed up its ability to offer care and expert knowledge in the two counties, thanks to strong relationships that Pacific Shores doctors have built in the community, City of Hope President Annette Walker said.

Tchekmedyian said his organization has placed an emphasis over its 35-year history to provide care that is personal.

Having well-trained staff who always answer the front desk phone and can accommodate patients who speak different languages have allowed for more clinical trials to be conducted among diverse patient groups, and will hopefully provide City of Hope the opportunity to connect readily with communities in which Pacific Shores has established trust, he said. The medical group has more than 10,000 active patients, he said.

Joining together “is going to enable us to serve this community in a whole different way and accelerate our presence in Orange County,” said Walker, “because they have relationships with people in our community.”

“And we have been committed to come to this community differently,” she said. “We’re coming to be a neighbor to Orange County. Neighbors have relationships.”

City of Hope’s access to research and depth of cancer expertise will “amplify” the services Pacific Shores has offered its patients for years, City of Hope’s Orange County physician-in-chief Dr. Edward Kim said.

“Now, we will be able to provide more services, more depth of services, on top of what they’ve already done,” Kim said, emphasizing the many more clinical trials that Pacific Shores patients and physicians will have access to by joining with City of Hope.

“Clinical trials are what lead to the cures and to the drugs,” Kim said.

“We will never get better, we will never improve, we will never progress unless we are able to offer these types of opportunities,” he said. “And not just to some, to our representative population.”

Source: Orange County Register