Contact SCOR
Southeast Clinical Oncology
Research Consortium
2150 Country Club Road,
Suite 200
Winston Salem, NC 27104
T: (336) 448-1417
F: (336) 448-1425
Member Communities
Asheville, NC – Messino
Cary, NC
Charleston, SC
Charlotte, NC
Chesapeake, VA
Cookeville, TN
Florence, SC
Fort Myers, FL
Gastonia, NC
Goldsboro, NC
Greensboro, NC
Hampton Roads, VA
Hendersonville, NC – Pardee
Hendersonville, NC – AdventHealth
Kingsport, TN
Martinsville, VA
New Bern, NC
Pinehurst, NC
Richmond, VA
Rocky Mount, NC
Savannah, GA
Wilmington, NC
Winston-Salem, NC
FirstHealth’s Cancer Center to Offer Innovative Services While Keeping Care Close to Home
/in Cancer Care Delivery Research, Cancer Clinical Trial, Cancer Research, Clinical Research, Clinical Trial, FirstHealth of the Carolinas, PinehurstFirstHealth of the Carolinas is implementing strategic ways to increase access to innovative cancer care close to home. Dr. Daniel Barnes, president of FirstHealth Physicians Group, shares their journey from conception to construction, involvement of the community in design, unique longitudinal approach to oncology care that starts with prevention, and comprehensive approach to care under one roof.
FirstHealth Breaks Ground at New Cancer Center
/in FirstHealth, FirstHealth of the Carolinas, PinehurstBy Laura Douglass, www.thepilot.com
May 27, 2021
FirstHealth of the Carolinas broke ground Thursday morning on its new $68 million comprehensive cancer center. The all-encompassing facility represents a major step forward for cancer treatment and patient care, from diagnosis to treatment, and most importantly, survivorship.
Construction of the four-story building is expected to continue through late 2022. The new structure and its adjoining parking deck on Page Road are located directly across the street from Moore Regional’s main hospital campus in Pinehurst.
Art Medeiros, chairman of Foundation of FirstHealth Board, said building the multidisciplinary cancer center was both a practical and pragmatic decision. FirstHealth has a long-standing history of providing exceptional cancer services, but has grown and expanded beyond the capacity of its current facilities.
“What we’ve got here today is a groundbreaking not just of a building. It is our community’s commitment to a line in the sand that we will fight cancer,” Medeiros said, in an inspiring message to the large crowd that included FirstHealth officials, local elected representatives, oncology staff and medical providers. “I believe we are building a haven of hope. We are building a haven of healing. We are building a haven of help.”
FirstHealth CEO Mickey Foster noted it was a “very special day,” and thanked his predecessor, former CEO Dave Kilarski, for his initial vision of the cancer center. Foster also expressed thanks to the Foundation for FirstHealth Board for their philanthropic efforts, and the FirstHealth staff for their dedication, especially throughout the challenges of 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This will be a healthcare destination for decades to come,” Foster said.
Natalie Hawkins, executive director of Partners in Progress agreed. “I think this new cancer center that FirstHealth is building is just an incredible investment in our community. I think Mickey Foster and his leadership team have done a phenomenal job bringing first-class quality care for cancer patients here to Moore County that will benefit the entire region.”
Sanford’s Cook is the First to Undergo Procedure to “Zap” Lung Cancer
/in Clinical Trial, Pinehurst, Robotic surgeryFrom FirstHealth.org
Nov 20, 2019
Terri Cook of Pinehurst, NC
PINEHURST—A routine physical in 2015 revealed lung cancer in non-smoker Terri Cook. A surgeon removed her upper right lobe and scans every six months for two years revealed no more cancer. Then in November 2017, the only time she went to a scan without her husband, the doctor reported “one, maybe two” concerning lesions on her lower right lobe. Cook held it together in front of her physician, but that brave face didn’t last when she told her husband.
Since Cook had a previous lobectomy, a second surgery was not an ideal situation, so her doctor offered two options: radiation or microwave ablation, the latter offered through a clinical trial to determine efficacy of a new type of lung cancer treatment. “When I heard ‘clinical trial’ I immediately thought ‘guinea pig,’” she said.
Her physician explained that colleague Michael Pritchett, D.O, MPH, pulmonary specialist at Pinehurst Medical Clinic and director of the Chest Center of the Carolinas, had just returned from the United Kingdom where he assisted with a bronchoscopy with microwave ablation, a procedure in which a flexible probe is inserted through the mouth, routed directly to the cancerous lesion and “zapped” with microwave energy. Dr. Pritchett had been selected as one of the few providers in the United States to offer this procedure through a clinical trial.
“My physician and I had developed a good rapport over the years, and he said if it were his wife, he would recommend the clinical trial,” said Cook. She and her husband acted on his recommendation and Dr. Pritchett performed the procedure on June 29, 2018.
Cook made national history that day in June, explaining, “I was the very first person in the United States to receive this procedure. Everyone was so excited and there were lots of people in the room watching.” She reported minimal discomfort after the procedure and after an overnight stay in the hospital, she recovered quickly at home.
The second of the concerning lesions initially reported also turned out to be cancerous, so Dr. Pritchett made a special request for Cook to be not only the first American to receive the procedure, but also the ninth. He was granted the second procedure for her and completed it on March 15, 2019. The United States received 20 slots for the clinical trial, and Cook was a good candidate to have it twice. The Mayo Clinic is the only other site for this trial.
“I feel wonderful now!” said the 64-year-old grandmother of two with a third on the way. “I can breathe!”
Cook is now almost a year and half out from her initial ablation, and the follow-up CT scans show no evidence of cancer.
Cook reported that everyone she worked with, including Dr. Pritchett and the entire staff at Reid Heart Center, was wonderful. “I felt truly cared for,” she said.
A substitute teacher from Sanford, Cook reflected on her participation in this clinical trial and reported, “I think it’s amazing what can be done now — and right in Pinehurst! Every time I teach in Pittsboro, my colleagues assume my medical care was in Chapel Hill. When I told them Pinehurst, they said, ‘really?’ and I replied, “Yes, really!”
Patients and their families seeking more information about clinical trials at FirstHealth of the Carolinas can visit https://www.firsthealth.org/reference/clinical-trials or talk with the patient’s physician. Find cancer clinical trials in your community by visiting https://southeastclinicaloncology.org/clinical-trials/