Maggie McKay (Host): When you have cancer, the last thing you want to do is have to travel far for treatment. So today, we'll talk about world-class cancer care close to home with Dr. Haider Khadim, Medical Director of St. Joseph's Hospital Cancer Care.

Welcome to St. Joseph's Health Medcast, a podcast from St. Joseph's Health. I'm Maggie McKay. Great to have you here today, Dr. Khadim.

Dr Haider Ali Khadim: Thank you for having me.

Host: St. Joseph's Health Cancer Care launched in December. As the Medical Director, we'd love to hear more about your background and why you love providing cancer care.

Dr Haider Ali Khadim: So, my name is Haider Khadim and I went to med school in Pakistan, finished in 2002. And my med school's name is King Edward Medical College, built by King Edward VII in 1857, so it's the oldest med school in Southeast Asia, and very prestigious. And when I finished med school, I came to the U.S.

Host: And what do you love about providing cancer care?

Dr Haider Ali Khadim: Basically, cancer care is complicated and humbling at the same time. I love providing care, because we give so much hope to people who do not have hope with cancer diagnosis. And it's not just only taking care of the patients, it's also taking care of the family all together. So, we make personal bonds with the patients and the families together.

Host: That's awesome. So, as we mentioned, it launched in December. How's it going? How many patients have you seen?

Dr Haider Ali Khadim: So in this short time period we have been open, we have already seen about a hundred patients and we continue to grow. Myself and my physician assistant, we have a capacity of treating more than 375 patients annually. Once we hit the 375-patients goal, we will look to add another provider.

Host: That's amazing. What makes this new cancer care program stand apart from others in Central New York?

Dr Haider Ali Khadim: We have partnered with Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Roswell Park is a nationally-recognized leader in cancer care. It's the only National Cancer Institute designated comprehensive cancer center in upstate New York. This collaboration allows us to offer the latest treatment options and integrated treatment plans. For many of the treatments, patients can actually stay in the community surrounded by their support system and their loved ones. We provide a collaborative team approach. Cancer specialists, surgeons, pathologists meet regularly to adjust and optimize the patient's treatment plans to ensure the best results. And additionally, providers may include nutritionists, pain management specialists, and rehabilitation therapists, among others.

Host: Is this service line open to patients with certain cancers?

Dr Haider Ali Khadim: I will see any patient with cancer, including breast cancer, colorectal, lung, gastrointestinal cancers, as well as blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma. We provide medical oncology, including chemotherapy, immunotherapies in our practice. So, if surgery is needed, we partner and refer patients to other physicians and surgeons in the community within the Roswell Park system or locally to ensure patients needs are met.

For example, we have a few breast cancer patients already who needed surgery recently. So, we connected the patients to Dr. Kara Cort, one of our incredible general surgeons who specialize in breast cancer surgery specifically, and we'll do the same for urologic cancers and GI cancers.

Host: Dr. Khadim, are there plans to build a physical center?

Dr Haider Ali Khadim: We currently have a treatment facility on campus with plans to further expand into a new space. Renovation is underway on a new center located on the fourth floor of physician office building.

Host: That's great. So, is there anything else you'd like to add you would like people to know who are listening?

Dr Haider Ali Khadim: We are very efficient in seeing patients. With cancer diagnosis, the lead time to seeing an oncologist is, nationally speaking, very long. So, we want to shorten that lead time and see the patients right away. For example, just yesterday, one of the physicians called me right on my cell phone. And the next thing I said to the physician to bring the patient right away and ask the patient to come to my office right away and we'll see him today.

Host: That's amazing. That never happens, as you know. How are you able to do that?

Dr Haider Ali Khadim: Just hard work, putting hard work and hoping for the best results and outcomes for the patients.

Host: Well, that's got to be amazingly reassuring to cancer patients listening, to have that option, to have people that are right there ready for you in your time of need.

 Thank you so much for making the time to share your expertise and telling us more about the Center. This has been so useful and helpful and I'm sure cancer patients will appreciate knowing this.

Dr Haider Ali Khadim: Thank you.

Host: Again, that's Dr. Haider Khadim. To find out more, please visit sjhsyr.org/cancer. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out our entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. I'm Maggie McKay. Thanks for listening to St. Joseph's Health Medcast, a podcast from St. Joseph's Health.