STAT Cancer Clinic Serves Its Thousandth Patient

Bill Mayfield, M.D.

WellStar Health System designed the STAT Cancer Clinic, a multidisciplinary program that not only delivers the best results possible, but also streamlines patient care so patients spend less time waiting.

“WellStar is the only organization in the region with a comprehensive, multidis­ciplinary clinic specifically designed for patients with cancer,” said thoracic surgeon William Mayfield, M.D. “What’s more, this patient-focused approach signifi­cantly reduces the amount of time between diagnosis and treatment.”

With a conventional model of care, patients must visit multiple doctors over a period of several weeks. Through the STAT Cancer Clinic, all the specialists (pulmonologists, medical oncologists, thoracic surgeons, radiation therapists, nutritionists, etc.) meet with the patient during one single visit.

Although the national average between di­agnosis and treatment is 56 days, WellStar patients benefit from beginning treatment within 13 days of their initial diagnosis.

“Approaching care in this manner means far fewer sleepless nights,” said Dr. Mayfield, who was the driving force behind the formation of the STAT Cancer Clinic. “Plus, when a course of treatment has been developed, we have the skills and resources necessary to provide the most advanced methods for surgical intervention, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.”