The acquisition of Cancer Treatment Centers of America will allow City of Hope to build a national network of cancer centers that is fundamentally different from those of other cancer centers.
“This will create a one-of-a-kind national cancer-focused system. I’m not aware of anybody else doing that,” Robert Stone, president and CEO of City of Hope, said to The Cancer Letter.
The two organizations are very different. City of Hope is an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center based in Southern California and has founded a subsidiary, AccessHope, to provide remote cancer expertise to employers and their health care affiliates. CTCA has been a for-profit, family-owned business that operates cancer centers in Chicago, Atlanta, and Phoenix.
After decades of aggressive marketing, CTCA has become one of the most recognized brands in the U.S. For example, in the most recent YouGov America survey of most popular hospitals, CTCA ranked second, below Mayo Clinic and above Johns Hopkins Health.
“When we did our due diligence, we saw that Cancer Treatment Centers of America is one of the most trusted brands among health care consumers in the country,” Stone said. “How the two names are used and come together going forward is something we haven’t fully decided yet. On Day 1 of the new organization, we will communicate that CTCA is part of City of Hope.”
