Loughran Named Penn State Cancer Institute Director

Hershey, Pa. – The new director for Penn State Cancer Institute will join Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State College of Medicine on July 1, and the Medical Center has earned national distinction among its peer for patient satisfaction. Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., senior vice president for health affairs, dean and CEO, shared the news with the Penn State University Board of Trustees at their meeting today in Hershey.

            Thomas P. Loughran, Jr., M.D., will be the first director of Penn State Cancer Institute. His appointment is effective July 1, 2003.

            "The leadership at Penn State is extremely pleased to have Dr. Loughran joining us. He is an internationally recognized figure in cancer research and treatment," Kirch said. "Most importantly, he is a skilled and energetic leader, making him the perfect individual to bring together our partners throughout central Pennsylvania who are committed to making Penn State Cancer Institute among the best cancer centers."

            Loughran, 49, comes to Hershey from the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Fla., where he has served as program leader of hematologic malignancies since 1996. From 1992-96, Loughran was associate director of the Bone Marrow Transplant Program of the SUNY Health Science Center, and chief of hematology at the Veteran's Administration Medical Center, Syracuse, N.Y.

"I look forward to the exciting and challenging position as director to establish both excellent interdisciplinary patient care programs as well as patient-centered scientific research," Loughran said. "Penn State Cancer Institute and its member institutions should serve as a world-class resource for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer for residents of central Pennsylvania."

Loughran will lead Penn State Cancer Institute, which delivers cancer services throughout central and eastern Pennsylvania. The Institute's mission includes clinical care, research, education and community outreach. Penn State Cancer Institute is a partnership of Penn State University, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pa., and Centre Community Hospital in State College, Pa. The joining of these four institutions, together with associate member hospitals such as Lewistown Hospital, has been a key step in the provision of advanced cancer care for the central Pennsylvania region. Together, the partners of Penn State Cancer Institute see nearly 3,000 inpatients per year from more than 45 counties in the state of Pennsylvania; nearly double the number of inpatients of any other hospital.

"Dr. Loughran is an established investigator with strong program leadership and experience, and is well suited to lead the Penn State Cancer Institute," said Gregory Harper, M.D., Ph.D., physician in chief, Cancer Services, Lehigh Valley Hospital. "As one of the founding members of the Penn State Cancer Institute, Lehigh Valley Hospital is committed to the Institute's vision of improved cancer prevention, detection, and treatment for our communities. We look forward to working with Dr. Loughran in realizing this vision, and achieving recognition by the National Cancer Institute for successfully bringing new discoveries and treatment advances to the people of central and eastern Pennsylvania," Harper added.

            Thomas J. Murray, president and CEO of Centre Community Hospital, expressed his support of Loughran's appointment. "Centre Community Hospital, as a partner of Penn State Cancer Institute, knows that he possesses the necessary experience, and understanding of the unique strengths of the Institute. Our partnership offers the patients that we serve and the physicians who practice at Centre Community Hospital access to state-of-the-art research."

            "The appointment of Dr. Loughran as director of Penn State Cancer Institute opens up the opportunity for development of an increasingly comprehensive cancer program here at Centre Community Hospital," said Richard Dixon, M.D., medical director, Centre Community Cancer Program. "His interest in our community cancer program as an integral part of the developing institute is most appreciated."

            Among Loughran's other objectives as director will be the construction of the Penn State Cancer Institute building at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. The Center will consist of 150,000 gross square feet and will bring all cancer care into one multi-disciplinary facility

            Loughran is a graduate of Ursinus College and Hahnemann Medical School. He completed his internship and residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and senior oncology fellowship at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash. In 1986-87, Loughran was a visiting scientist at the National Cancer Institute. He has also published extensively in scientific journals. A photo of Loughran can be found on line at: http://www.hmc.psu.edu/news/pr/2003/mar/loughran.jpg.

            Kirch also informed Trustees that in a recent national comparison of academic medical centers, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center stacks up extremely well when it comes to patient satisfaction. The University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), an alliance of the clinical enterprises of academic health centers, compared teaching hospitals based upon patient satisfaction data collected by Press Ganey Associates a health care industry satisfaction measurement and improvement firm. The results ranked Penn State Hershey Medical Center third among 27 national academic medical centers that comprised the benchmark study.

            "This is positive recognition for our many hardworking and dedicated employees who strive to provide care that is patient-focused. We all spend a great deal of time working on various areas of improvement with regards to patient satisfaction and what this tells us is that, compared to our peers, we do a lot of things right," said Kirch.

            However, Kirch insists the Medical Center will not get complacent. "The reality is that we were number three not number one–and that's really where we want to be. We must continue to work effectively to streamline our admission and discharge process, improve overall service to our patients and their families, and continue to provide the World Class Care that our patients deserve and expect."

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Contact: Dan O'Donnell, at (717) 531-8606 or e-mail dodonnell@psu.edu