The Dean of Clinical Affairs at UC San Diego Health Sciences denies reports that the Nevada Cancer Institute will close on December 31 st. Instead, he says, NVCI is “evolving.”
UC San Diego purchased the clinic less than a year ago at a cost of $18 million. It was the first time the University had purchased real estate outside of California.
Speaking specifically to the statements made by the institute’s CEO Mickey Goldman on November 5 th in which he said that the Center would shut down, Thomas McAfee says, “What we’re doing is changing the model - instead of running a local practice, we’re going to collaborate with many of the premier local oncology practices, so that we can offer a broader spectrum of options to the patients here. In fact, what we’re going to be doing is collaborating with local providers … to provide direct care allowing us to bring resources to the center in terms of clinical trials, primarily.”
McAfee says that both the date that Goldman offered the staff – December 31 st – and the term “closing” were inaccurate, and he’s frustrated with the CEO’s statement.
“I don’t think that his comments accurately reflect the direction that UC San Diego is, in fact, taking in Las Vegas,” says McAfee. “We do not plan to close the Nevada campus, and I deeply regret the comments that he made. I think they were inaccurate in terms of what our motivations are.”