“Cancer is the enemy.”  That’s what Troy Kimsey, MD, Phoebe Surgical Oncologist, told Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital (PPMH) Board of Directors members at their monthly meeting Wednesday.  Kimsey previously practiced in Albany and returned to Phoebe recently as Medical Director of Surgical Oncology Services.  “At Phoebe, we are and will continue to be the leader in the delivery of cancer care in southwest Georgia,” Kimsey said.

While Dr. Kimsey will continue to be a practicing surgeon, in his new administrative role, he will lead the Phoebe cancer team’s work on a comprehensive vision to further refine Phoebe’s multi-disciplinary approach to cancer care and to ensure Phoebe is leading the way in the entire spectrum of cancer care.  That spectrum includes education and prevention, proper screening, clinical trials, advanced treatments and survivorship.  “We need to be able to evaluate the needs of this region, so we can best serve the people here,” Kimsey said.  “We’ll develop metrics to make sure we know how we’re doing and what improvement measures we need to put in place.”

Dr. Kimsey pointed out that while cardiovascular disease has been the leading cause of death in Georgia for decades, it’s expected that cancer will soon surpass heart disease as the state’s top killer.  “There’s no greater advance in cancer care than early diagnosis which is why it’s so important to make sure we’re reaching out to people who need to be screened,” Dr. Kimsey said.

One way Phoebe is doing that is through Lung Watch.  It’s a systematic screening program for people at high risk for lung cancer.  Shanti Akers, MD, Phoebe Pulmonologist and Jay McAfee, MD, Radiation Oncologist with Radiation Oncology Associates explained the success of the program.  The goal of Lung Watch is to provide a high-risk patient with an annual CT scan so than even small abnormalities in the lungs can be picked up early, before the patient develops late-stage cancer.  “We can reduce lung cancer deaths by around 20% with proper targeted screening,” Dr. Akers said.