The California Consortium for Cancer Health Equity—led by USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, and City of Hope—hosted a full day hybrid symposium on March 13, 2025, to enhance collaboration throughout Southern California’s cancer provider networks and produce actionable outcomes to address barriers and improve access to cancer screenings, treatment, and high-quality care for under-served patients throughout the region.
Patient navigation, a central focus of the symposium, is a vital solution for addressing multilevel determinants of cancer health disparities and drivers of reduced access to care. Likewise, navigation aims to improve both provider and patient knowledge to enhance the coordination and delivery of clinical services. “We ought to be doing things collaboratively,” stated Dr. Hughes Halbert in her opening remarks, emphasizing the necessity to transcend stakeholder lines and deliver high-quality cancer care. “We know that non-medical factors influence healthcare delivery…ultimately, we want to develop and implement solutions that are sustainable, enhance quality, and reduce disparities by enhancing equity.”
The dynamic keynote speaker session was delivered by Dr. S. Monica Soni, MD, who currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer for Covered California. Her talk focused on the principles governing the actions of Covered California and provided crucial metrics highlighting the work done by the organization on the journey towards achieving cancer health equity for all Californians. Plenary sessions followed with speakers from LA General Medical Center, the California Black Health Network, and leaders from the symposium’s industry sponsors, AstraZeneca and Genentech.