A new family medicine clinic slated to open this summer will mean easier access to primary care for residents of Morgan County. Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Passavant Area Hospital and Morgan County Public Health Department have partnered to develop SIU Center for Family Medicine-Jacksonville, at 345 W. State St. in Jacksonville. SIU School of Medicine’s Center for Family and Community Medicine, based in Springfield, will oversee the administration of the clinic. Passavant providers and health department medical staff will work on site at the center. The site is scheduled

The National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) has rated the Breast Center at Simmons Cancer Institute (SCI) at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield as 100 percent compliant on all 27 evaluation standards for accreditation used by the NAPBC. In 2009, the Breast Center was among the first 23 centers in the United States to receive NAPBC accreditation. It has continued to receive 100 percent compliance on all 27 evaluation standards each time it has been evaluated. The NAPBC is administered by the American College of Surgeons and was established to ensure

Patients who have been diagnosed with Stage II or III melanoma and have had surgery may be eligible to participate in a new clinical trial at Simmons Cancer Institute at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. The clinical trial is studying the effectiveness of a vaccine for melanoma. Stephen Stone, M.D., professor of dermatology at SIU School of Medicine, is the principal investigator on the study. This Phase III melanoma clinical trial uses a combination of proteins associated with laboratory-grown melanoma cells to stimulate the body’s immune system to fight the cancer. The

A new partnership between Simmons Cancer Institute (SCI) at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield and Litchfield Oncology Institute will expand area cancer patients’ access to cancer care. Sherjeel Sana, MD, assistant professor of hematology/oncology at SCI, will hold clinic hours every Tuesday at the clinic located at 1201 East Union in Litchfield. Appointments can be made by calling 217-545-8000. Sana said SCI physicians also travel to Staunton and Jacksonville. “This is a continuation of our efforts to provide oncology services to patients closer to their homes.”

More than 50 people from Memorial Medical Center and Southern Illinois University School of Medicine participated in a complex simulation exercise that followed a critically ill patient from the moment he called for help in his home until he was wheeled into an intensive care unit. The live simulation was the "first time that a simulation of this complexity has been attempted," said Dr. Sapan Desai, medical director of the surgical skills lab in the Memorial Center for Learning and Innovation as well as vice chair of research with the department of surgery with SIU School of Medicine. "This