DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM
Dr. Michael Carney employs a homelike concept for his waiting room. The patient-friendly atmosphere is carried throughout the Women's Cancer Center in Kapiolani Hospital.
When Dr. Michael Carney arrived in Hawaii in November 2001, he "saw the need to make something great here for women with cancer." Cancer facility dream
comes trueThe women's center at Kapiolani
ranks high for gynecological careBy Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.comHis vision for a center offering comprehensive cancer care in a comforting environment was realized Feb. 12 when the Women's Cancer Center opened at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children.
The 40-year-old gynecologist-oncologist is medical director of the center, located on the sixth floor of Kapiolani's Physician Office Building.
He is also an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine.
Carney trained at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina and worked at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Utah before joining Kapiolani.
He said he "brought both experiences together" to help form his vision for the center dedicated to the prevention and treatment of women's gynecologic and breast cancers.
"We needed to take a step up to get to the level of the rest of the country," Carney said, "and I can completely say we exceed most places in the nation for gynecological care."
Besides offering coordinated and advanced gynecologic and cancer care by a team of specialists, the Women's Cancer Center features:
>> Clinical trials of new drugs and therapies for gynecological and breast cancer by the National Cancer Institute and pharmaceutical companies. In the past, Hawaii women had to go to the mainland to participate in such trials, Carney said.
>> Genetic counseling and testing to assess risks for women with personal or family histories of breast, colon or ovarian cancer and development of plans to reduce risks.
>> Research in collaboration with the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, National Cancer Institute and other groups.
>> Complementary services such as massage therapy, healing touch, nutritional or dietary counseling, psychological counseling and support groups. Music therapy and a nurse certified in lomilomi are being added.
"We had to start with a place that's nice and comforting," Carney said during a tour of the center.
The reception area has divided rooms so patients "are not all sitting, staring at each other, looking at magazines like they're about to get a haircut," he noted.
The facility focuses on patients and is designed to be relaxing because "mind, body and soul work together," he said.
It's an airy, homelike environment with comfortable furnishings, paintings, soothing music and water fountains, places for snacks and drinks, and windows and sliding glass doors that flood the rooms with light.
There are five chemotherapy bays that can be enclosed for privacy or opened for visits. The reclining chairs face windows with sweeping views of Honolulu, and each bay has cable television.
"Patients will sit back with all the windows, put their feet up and feel the sun come in," Carney said, noting most hospital radiation facilities are in basements.
The center offers a private area where patients can discuss insurance or other matters, four exam rooms (including one for treatment), a conference room and an education resource area with a library and an Internet station.
Carney said the Internet has been used more than he expected. Patients plug in "cancer" and get information so they become more informed, he said.
"Patients love coming here," said Suzanne Ditter, oncology nurse and gynecology-oncology coordinator at the center. Spending five or six hours in chemotherapy, they get to know one another and gather in the center "like one big support group," she said.
Barbara Smith, Northwest Airlines flight attendant, who was at the center recently for treatment, said: "This place is wonderful. The nurses are great and it's comfortable." The only problem, she added, is finding parking in the hospital.
Steve Lee said his family was planning to take his mother, Hsiu Chien Lee, 71, to California for treatment of ovarian cancer before her doctor referred her to Carney.
Carney performed surgery Aug. 28, and she has had chemotherapy eight times, Lee said. The last was in the new facility, and the others in the previous cancer facility on the fourth floor.
"She feels fine and is very confident of herself," Lee said, accompanying his mother to the center for a checkup and translating for her. "Dr. Carney has done a great job."
His mother said the new facility is "beautiful," he said, "but she doesn't want to come back here."
Carney said research using Hawaii's unique ethnic diversity for cancer causes is an extra benefit of the facility.
Women who have cancer surgery have an opportunity to participate in a blood and tissue bank so researchers can look at genetics and determine if there is a marker for cancer.
The medical team includes Drs. Jonathan Cho, Brian Issell, Laura Hoque and Lori Kamemoto.
Two others will join the group after they complete fellowships at mainland medical schools: Dr. Mark Wakabayashi, in July; Dr. Jennifer Brannon Fu Day, in September. AnnaLyn Kahili is oncology program coordinator.
Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children
