UC Davis Health and Adventist Health and Rideout are expanding cancer care services in Marysville, increasing access for patients throughout the Yuba-Sutter region and beyond. Plans include additional medical oncologists, expanded infusion capacity and new radiation treatment technology.
The investments build on a partnership that began in 2000, when the two organizations jointly opened Rideout Cancer Center. Today, the center remains the region's only cancer center, offering specialized oncology services and clinical trial opportunities as part of the UC Davis Cancer Care Network. The network partners with many departments at UC Davis Health, including UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, which the National Cancer Institute recently designated again as a comprehensive center, its highest ranking.
"As someone who was born and raised in this community, I understand firsthand the importance of ensuring local patients have access to the care they need close to home," said Jennifer Hilleary, Rideout Cancer Center director.
Expanding access to care
As part of its commitment to the community, Rideout is recruiting additional medical oncologists and adding five infusion chairs for chemotherapy and other intravenous treatments. The expansion in infusion services will be accessible to cancer and non-cancer patients.
Alongside expanding the clinical team and patient care space, the center's existing linear accelerator will be replaced with a new Varian TrueBeam. This state-of-the-art radiation oncology technology will deliver better image quality, decrease treatment time and have increased reliability.
"This combination of outstanding clinical care and access to research ensures all cancer patients from the community surrounding Rideout need not compromise by staying close to home to receive care," explained Edward Kim, medical director of UC Davis Cancer Care Network.
Hoa P. Nguyen celebrates 20 years of patient care
The expansion comes as UC Davis Health and Adventist and Rideout mark another milestone in their partnership: the 20-year anniversary of oncologist and hematologist Hoa P. Nguyen at Rideout Cancer Center. Colleagues, patients and the community recognized Nguyen's years of service at a recent celebration event.
"Most people are terrified of the diagnosis of cancer," Nguyen said. "It is rewarding to be able to help calm patients and guide them through the most difficult part of their lives."
One of those patients is Brian Spiess, who lives in nearby Yuba City. He has been a patient of Nguyen's at Rideout for 14 years since being diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer.
"I know he's a professional, and he's a doctor, but it's like going to see your friend," Spiess said, adding he appreciates that Nguyen is "thorough and well researched" and the hospital is just a few miles away from his house.
The ability to receive high quality cancer care close to home is important to patient Pam Brady as well. She is 80 years old and has breast cancer. "Before I found Dr. Nguyen, my husband Rick and I drove nearly an hour each way from Yuba City to Roseville for my treatments," she explained.
But after switching to Rideout, the commute was cut to about 10 minutes. She said Nguyen is always available to answer questions and the staff is "very caring."
It's not only local residents who appreciate Nguyen and Rideout hospital; people have traveled from as far as South Asia and Europe to receive care there, and others regularly make the drive to Rideout from Oregon and Nevada.
A long history of putting patients first
Nguyen is a proud University of California alumnus. He earned both his undergraduate and medical degrees from UC Irvine, completed his internship and residency at UC Davis, and returned to UC Irvine for fellowship training.
Rideout Cancer Center was his first position post-fellowship.
Over the years, Nguyen has grown with the program. He now serves as the Cancer Center medical director, is the local lead investigator on multiple clinical trials and provides training opportunities for future health care providers.
"There's a saying that if you enjoy what you do, it's not really work," Nguyen said. "Every morning I look forward to meeting patients, and believe it or not, that 20 years at Rideout flew by really fast."
