A new cancer center in Southeast Washington, D.C., will focus on reducing disparities in healthcare affecting the city’s underserved communities through patient navigation assistance.
The Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Prevention at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center will open on Monday, April 17 at 1010 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, D.C., building on a longstanding partnership between Georgetown and Ralph Lauren on cancer research and care.
Research shows that patient navigators help reduce cancer disparities by guiding patients through the complex and vast healthcare system. Patient navigators and other community-focused educators have been proven to help eliminate cancer disparities from diagnosis through treatment by assisting patients with:
• Lack of transportation, childcare or elder care
• Language barriers
• Medical mistrust
• Fear of what a screening, test or diagnosis will mean
• Logistics navigating a complex system of doctors and appointments amid many other life responsibilities
A part of Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, the facility is made possible by a grant from The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation. It is aimed at helping residents get the cancer care they need by bringing comprehensive cancer resources to underserved communities in Southeast Washington (Wards 6, 7 and 8), where they have been historically lacking.
The new center will offer comprehensive cancer resources to the diverse populations disproportionately impacted by lung, colorectal, prostate and other cancers — from screening to treatment, when necessary. The center will also include a wider array of cancer-focused services, targeted outreach and education in collaboration with MedStar Health, Georgetown’s academic health system partner.
“We’ve been working at this location and in this community with breast cancer patients for 15 years and what we know from that work and those relationships — along with research — is that addressing cancer disparities in communities and meeting people where they are makes a real difference,” said Lucile Adams-Campbell, Ph.D., director of the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Prevention at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, in a statement. “We are extremely excited to have the opportunity to now expand our focus on breast cancer to address colorectal, lung and prostate cancers because when we work directly with and in communities most impacted, we see dramatic improvements in early detection, diagnostic, treatment and preventive measures,” added Adams-Campbell, who is also Associate Director for Minority Health and Health Disparities Research at Georgetown Lombardi.
Last year, the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation made a $25 million commitment in new grant funding to expand or establish five Ralph Lauren-named cancer centers in underserved communities across the United States. Recognized by the White House’s Cancer Moonshot initiative, the funding will benefit institutions, including Georgetown Lombardi and Memorial Sloan Kettering Ralph Lauren Center in Harlem, N.Y., that have a National Cancer Institute designation and are dedicated to overcoming health disparities and improving cancer outcomes in their communities. In the coming years, The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation will identify and select three additional grant recipients in collaboration with Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation.
