Breaking New Ground In The Fight Against Cancer

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks Discusses Breaking Ground on Coming Cancer Center

By Angela Alsobrooks

Excerpted From Community Connections

Alsobrooks

Today, we joined Governor Hogan and leaders from across the State to officially break ground on the new University of Maryland Capital Region Cancer Center in Largo. For far too long, Prince Georgians have often had to leave the County to receive quality cancer care, despite the fact that cancer is the second-leading cause of death for County residents. Now, with this new cancer center located at the University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center, Prince Georgians will have access to life-saving care and treatment right here at home.

Back in October last year, we assembled a meeting with the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), which included UM Capital Region Medical Center leadership as well as members of our County Council and County Delegation. During that meeting, Dr. Mohan Suntha, the President and CEO of UMMS, reminded us that Prince George’s did not have a cancer center, while other jurisdictions did. He asked me if we could make a request during the next Legislative Session in Annapolis for a $67 million cancer center for our County, because Prince Georgians could not wait any longer.

I agreed with Dr. Suntha, and we entered into this current legislative session as a partner with UMMS to advocate for a cancer center in Prince George’s County. Going into the legislative session, I told Prince Georgians that supporting the UMMS funding request for a cancer center would be one of our top priorities for this session.

After meetings with leaders in both the Maryland House of Delegates and Senate, we were able to secure $40 million in the State’s FY 2023 budget to go towards the new cancer center. The $40 million includes an allocation by the General Assembly and an allocation in a supplemental budget submitted by Governor Hogan. An additional $27 million to finish the facility has been preauthorized in the State’s FY 2024 budget. We want to thank Governor Hogan and the State Legislature for investing in our County and expanding access to health care for Prince Georgians.

The University of Maryland Capital Region Cancer Center will be the first and only cancer center in Prince George’s County. The center is expected to open in Spring 2024, and will provide high-quality comprehensive cancer care services, initially focusing on breast, colorectal, lung and prostate cancers.

The new Regional Cancer Center will reduce the cancer disease burden in surrounding communities by providing greater access to cancer screenings, leading to earlier detection and diagnosis of cancer and better outcomes for patients. In addition, experts will address health disparities in Prince George’s County by expanding the reach of life-saving clinical trials into the County for the first time.

I’m so proud that we were able to get this done for Prince Georgians, because cancer is something that has impacted many of us so personally. My mother is a breast cancer survivor, and my father had multiple family members die from cancer. I remember having to go to other jurisdictions for my mother to receive the care she needed. Now, we will be able to save even more lives from this very personal disease, right here at home.

Yours in service,

Angela Alsobrooks

Prince George’s County Executive

Excerpted From Community Connections. Click here for more details and to request the newsletter.