South Cook News

Darren Bailey, candidate for Governor of Illinois, discusses cancer care expansion in Orland Park.

The recently opened new cancer care clinic at 15300 West Avenue by the Northwestern Medicine Cancer Center was lauded by Bailey as an integral addition to the state’s cancer care program. 

“It is great to see Northwestern Medicine expand the access to care in the Orland Park area for our Illinois residents,” Bailey said. “Nearly every family is affected by cancer and having quality care within a reasonable distance from your home is crucial to the lives of our patients. I hope this new care center brings healing and hope to our Orland Park area citizens.” 

Orland Park welcomed a new cancer care clinic in the Northwestern Medicine Cancer Center, which was situated at 15300 West Avenue. Dr. Christopher George, medical director of Northwestern Medicine's oncology program in the south and west suburbs, explains the importance of the new clinic in bridging the gap in cancer care.

"There was a hole in our geographic coverage," George told Patch. "When we looked at our map, where our patients were coming from, it's the south suburbs, and that's where we were failing people."

He also pointed out that historically, southern suburban Illinois residents have to make the long journey downtown just to avail of “academic-level medicine” with regards to cancer care. With the establishment of the new cancer care clinic, cancer patients from the south suburbs will now have easy access to academic-level care. 

"Our vision is to bring innovative, leading-edge, novel therapies from the Lurie Cancer Center to patients in the southern suburbs,” George added. "It's definitely an evolution. We built this cancer center with an eye on the future. In the next few years you can expect to see more specialties, more specialists, more supportive care like genetic counseling, clinical trials, and nutritional services. We want this to be kind of a one-stop.”

Northwestern Medicine is a highly ranked hospital system and "is proud to have six hospitals ranked among 'America’s Best' by U.S. News & World Report, 2022-23." It is "anchored by Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the #1 hospital in Illinois and a top 10 hospital in the nation, we’re leading the quest for better care and better treatments in the Chicagoland area. With more than 200 locations across Chicagoland, better care and better treatments are never far from home,” the hospital notes on its Facebook page.

Northwestern Medicine’s website reassures potential patients noting that they are never alone in their fight against cancer, "from diagnosis to treatment to recovery, you will be surrounded by a team of highly skilled professionals in state-of-the-art facilities,” the website reads.