Cancer Team

Our team’s promise to you: We’ll do everything we can to prove you made the right choice.

Cancer is a complex disease. At the Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute, we believe the best way to deal with this complexity is to take a multilayered, coordinated approach tailored to your needs.

As a patient here, you’ll have a team of experts working with you to develop and follow a detailed care plan. This “disease management” approach taps the expertise of a comprehensive system of healthcare providers for the best possible results and patient satisfaction. Our team is led by Dr. Peter Yu, Senior Vice President and Physician-In-Chief, who is a nationally recognized cancer expert and former president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and Kristi Gafford, Senior Vice President of Operations for the Cancer Institute.

Our providers have years of advanced fellowship training in different types of cancer and often treating specific populations such as the elderly and women. As the charter member of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Alliance, we also offer Connecticut patients access to breakthrough cancer research trials and follow standards established by the country’s premier cancer treatment center.

We’ll make your visits with multiple providers as easy and convenient as possible. We try our best to organize appointments, in person or virtual, with all or most of them at once.

Help for All Cancers

Find specialists or surgeons who treat your specific cancer, including:

Types of Treatment

Some of the ways our specialists and surgeons treat different types of cancer:

Tumor Board

During Tumor Board meetings, experts representing the full spectrum of cancer care – radiology, oncology, medical oncology, specialty care, surgery and pathology – review each patient’s case and weigh in on the proposed plan of care.

It’s our team at its most collaborative. Viewing your cancer from multiple perspectives allows us to develop a more effective care plan.

A Broad Team

Besides physicians and surgeons, you’ll meet a variety of caregivers on your journey at the Cancer Institute. All are focused on helping you battle your cancer and live your best life.

Our team includes:

• Physician Assistants
• Oncology Nurses and Nurse Practitioners
• Geriatricians: Address the specific needs of older cancer patients.
• Registered Dieticians: Maintain your strength during treatment by getting the vitamins and minerals the body needs to recover. We’ll also help you manage nausea, weight loss or gain and other symptoms.
• Physical and Occupational Therapists: Maintain your independence, movement and function during treatment
• Pharmacists: Manage medications and any side effects
• Social Workers: Get counseling and support with various issues associated with a cancer diagnosis.
• Palliative and Integrative Care Therapists: We’ll show you how to relieve the pain, nausea and emotional anxiety associated with cancer and its treatment.
• Community Resource Coordinators: Your guide to help available in your area, including caregivers who can come to your home.

About the Cancer Institute