Press release
From Mission Health:
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (July 10, 2013) – Mission Health announces the appointment of Jeremy Geffen, MD, FACP, as Medical Director of Cancer Services. Dr. Geffen, a leader in integrative medicine and oncology, brings more than 20 years of hematology and oncology experience to this role, the first permanent position of its kind for Mission Health.
In his role as Medical Director, Dr. Geffen will provide medical leadership for all of Mission Health’s cancer-related programs, projects and activities. He will plan and direct the cancer program development and implementation, emphasizing the patient and family experience, evidence-based care, performance improvement, community outreach and forward-thinking research.
“Dr. Geffen will be a tremendous asset to the Mission Health team. He brings a wealth of clinical, organizational, research, and patient engagement and support experience to Mission Health. Building upon our team, Dr. Geffen will help us extend and grow our patient-centric model of superb cancer care across the region,” said Ronald A. Paulus, MD, President and CEO of Mission Health. “I firmly believe that we will move beyond our regional leadership in cancer care, to create programs and care models that will stand out among the best in the nation. This is an exciting time in a program that is critical for the lives of so many western North Carolinians. Building upon our physicians and caregivers across the region, cancer care is reaching a new level of patient-centered excellence at Mission Health.”
Oncology is at the forefront of Mission Health’s strategic development to best serve residents of western North Carolina. Mission Health opened its state-of-the-art, free-standing SECU Cancer Center and affiliated with Cancer Care of Western North Carolina in late 2011. Mission Health also added the Hope Women’s Cancer Centers to its network in 2012.
“I am thrilled to be part of the leadership team at such an exciting time for Mission Health. To be named the first permanent Medical Director of Cancer Services is truly an honor,” Dr. Geffen said. “I’m excited to help Mission Health and our physicians become the obvious choice for all western North Carolina cancer patients, whether for consultation, treatment or support. I am absolutely and foundationally committed to Mission Health’s BIG(GER) AIM: to get each patient to the desired outcome, first without harm, also without waste and with an exceptional experience for the patient and family.”
Dr. Geffen, a board-certified medical oncologist, is a pioneer in the field of integrative medicine and oncology, and the founder of Geffen Visions International, Inc. a healthcare education, research and consulting company for cancer patients and their families. Dr. Geffen is the author of the highly- acclaimed book, The Journey Through Cancer: Healing and Transforming the Whole Person (Three Rivers Press, 2006) and creator of the leading-edge integrative medicine and oncology education and support program, The Seven Levels of Healing®.
Dr. Geffen previously spent his career in Vero Beach, FL, practicing at Indian River Memorial Hospital focusing on hematology and oncology. He also founded the Geffen Cancer Center and Research Institute (GCCRI) in Vero Beach in 1994, which he directed until 2003. GCCRI was one of the first cancer centers in the United States explicitly designed to provide a working model for treating the whole person multi- dimensionally with integrative care.
Dr. Geffen is a summa cum laude graduate of Columbia University, and received his medical degree with honors from New York University School of Medicine. He completed residency training in Internal Medicine at the University of California at San Diego Medical Center, and fellowship training in Hematology and Oncology at the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center. In 1995, he was elected a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. He has testified before the U.S. Congress as an expert witness in integrative medicine and oncology, and served as the director of integrative oncology for P4 Healthcare and the cancer information website Caring4Cancer.com from 2006-2008.
According to Dr. Geffen, The Seven Levels of Healing® program helps patients and family members navigate effectively on their journey through cancer, regardless of their particular diagnosis, stage of disease or treatment plan. The program, which Dr. Geffen is bringing to Mission Health, integrates state- of-the-art conventional cancer treatments with a wide array of complementary therapies designed to promote healing, guidance, transformation and wisdom.
About Mission Health
Mission Health, based in Asheville, N.C., is the state’s sixth-largest health system and the region’s only not-for-profit, independent community hospital system governed and managed exclusively in western North Carolina. Mission Health was recognized as one of the nation’s Top 15 Health Systems in 2012 and 2013 by Thomson Reuters and Truven Health Analytics, respectively. Mission Health is one of only two medium-sized health systems to receive this recognition in 2012 and 2013, and the only health system in North Carolina to achieve that distinction.Mission Health, which traces its roots in the region back to 1885, operates five hospitals, numerous outpatient and surgery centers and the region’s only dedicated Level II trauma center. Its medical staff consists of more than 1,000 physicians and is certified in more than 50 medical specialties and sub- specialties. Mission Health has seven Centers of Excellence: Cancer, Heart, Mission Children’s Hospital, Neurosciences, Orthopedics, Trauma and Women’s Health. Mission Hospital, located in Asheville, is the system’s flagship hospital and is licensed for 795 beds. It is the regional referral center for tertiary and quaternary care. It also includes Mission Children’s Hospital – the region’s only children’s hospital. Other Mission Health member hospitals include Angel Medical Center in Franklin, Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine, McDowell Hospital in Marion and Transylvania Regional Hospital in Brevard. With approximately 8,800 employees and 700 volunteers, Mission Health is dedicated to improving the health and wellness of the people of western North Carolina. For more information, please visit mission- health.org.
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