Leaders from Stanford Medicine and the Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System are looking to build a National Cancer Institute-designated joint cancer care and research center, according to a June 30 Stanford Medicine news release.
The two entities signed a memorandum of understanding June 30 to discuss collaborating on a state-of-the-art facility that would be located at the Veterans Affairs Health Care System's Palo Alto campus.
If built, the new center would "have far-reaching implications for what is expected to be an increasing number of Bay Area veterans seeking treatment," the release said, noting the PACT Act, signed by President Joe Biden in 2022, is set to increase the number of vets seeking cancer treatment in Northern California.
The PACT Act offers veterans with illnesses relating to environmental hazards, including airborne toxins, increased access to cancer care. Leaders at both Stanford and the VA said a collaborative center could include clinical trials for new treatments for these conditions.
"Stanford and VA Palo Alto employ some of the brightest clinicians and researchers who are poised to meet this mission together," Jean Gurga, interim medical center director of the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, said. "The veterans we serve deserve nothing less. And through this collaborative work, we can afford them and their families a brighter tomorrow."