
Our head and neck cancer care team strives to provide our patients with the most compassionate care and comprehensive care possible. Our approach is not only patient centered, but with the goal that we treat the whole patient, not just the disease. In order to best serve our patients, we offer a multidisciplinary clinic in which patients can meet with all the physicians who will be involved in their care. In addition, this clinic includes meetings with the ancillary services offered: speech and swallow therapy, nutrition and physical therapy.
Surgery
Surgical resection plays a key role in the management of many cancers of the head and neck. These surgeries are complex and often require expertise in modern reconstructive techniques. Dr. Katie McKee-Cole and Dr. Adam Baker come to Grand Junction from high volume head and neck cancer centers in Philadelphia. They are trained in all the latest surgical and reconstructive techniques. We are lucky to have their expertise available to our patients.
Radiation
Radiation also plays a vital role in the management of head and neck cancers. In the last decade, numerous advanced techniques have been developed to decrease the risk of short and long term side effects from radiation. Dr. J Ryan Bagley and Dr. Jonathan Frandsen come to our team from high volume, world class cancer centers where they learned how to employ these advanced planning and treatment techniques. In addition, at Community Hospital we have acquired the most advanced, state of the art radiation equipment currently available, the TrueBeam from Varian Medical Systems. The combination of our physicians' expertise and state of the art treatment techniques allows for improved cancer outcomes and better recovery.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is integral to achieving good outcomes in many head and neck cancers. Dr. Jonathan King comes to us from the University of Wisconsin, a world thought leader in advancements for treatments for these diseases. Dr. King offers the latest knowledge and expertise in chemotherapy and immunotherapies.