Bastyr Center for Natural Health is expanding its integrative oncology program this March to better serve the needs of the increasing number of cancer patients.

The teaching clinic of Bastyr University is the largest natural health clinic in the Northwest and offers services in naturopathic medicine, acupuncture, counseling and nutrition. It will now provide enhanced care and amenities to cancer patients, including comprehensive clinical care, laboratory services and an onsite dispensary to fill prescriptions. Patients will also benefit from convenient evening and weekend hours and easy transit and parking options at the LEED-certified facility in Wallingford/Fremont.

“We needed a bigger, better space to provide optimal care for our oncology patients,” said Leanna Standish, who previously treated integrative oncology patients at the University’s campus in Kenmore. “It makes so much sense to improve this clinical operation at Bastyr Center because it has all the facilities we need, like the dispensary, physical medicine, physicians and phlebotomists.”

Standish and her colleagues will work with patients’ oncologists and other medical specialists to provide complementary treatments in naturopathic medicine, acupuncture, botanical medicine, nutritional care and mind-body medicine.

Integrative cancer care aims to help keep quality of life at the forefront of a patient’s treatment plan by focusing on the patient’s whole body, mind and spirit. Clinicians focus on strengthening patient’s immune systems while also helping them withstand chemotherapy and other treatments with difficult side effects.

Bastyr integrative oncology research will continue to be offered to Bastyr Center patients. Research involves studying the outcomes of patients receiving integrative oncology care. Since 2009, nearly 650 oncology patients in all stages and types of cancer have participated in Bastyr integrative oncology studies. Although research is ongoing, preliminary results suggest that integrative cancer care may extend the lives of patients with advanced cancers.

Bastyr Integrative Oncology Research Center is the first integrative cancer research center in the country to receive funding from the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and has partnered with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington on groundbreaking cancer studies.