Dear UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center Community:
As 2018 comes to a close, it is a great time to reflect on what we’ve accomplished this year and the plans we have for an exciting and bright future. I want to express my heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you for your continued dedication and commitment to our patients at the Cancer Center. I am so thankful and proud to be part of the amazing group of nurses, physicians, scientists, pharmacists, physicists, laboratory technicians, medical assistants, employees and administrators who make UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center the very special place that it is.
We have so much to be thankful for in 2018. We celebrated a transformative $30 million legacy gift from the Mays Family Foundation. We launched our partnership with the MD Anderson Cancer Network® and welcomed important leadership and faculty within the Institute for Drug Development and across the Cancer Center. We expanded our clinical and research teams, increased our patient satisfaction scores and made significant improvements to our patient care spaces with the addition of the new Welcome Center, Infusion Center and Family Center. We also launched our first mass media marketing campaign to elevate the Cancer Center’s brand as the premier cancer care provider in San Antonio and South Texas.
Looking forward to 2019, I foresee another year of growth and excitement as we deepen our relationship with MD Anderson and focus on disease group activities, molecular diagnostics, early phase clinical trials, post-therapy care and the opening of additional multidisciplinary clinics. In addition, we will begin preparation for the renewal of our NCI Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG), from which our NCI designation is derived.
You have been unwavering in your dedication through all the changes that we have experienced over the past year. I appreciate your continued commitment to providing patient-centered, compassionate care to our patients and their families. You, your skills and your heart give them hope for the days and years ahead. I hope you enjoy the time with your friends and loved ones this holiday season. You deserve it!
Wishing everyone a peaceful holiday season and a happy, healthy and successful 2019.
Ruben Mesa, M.D., FACP
Director, UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center