Sharon Regional welcomes new Cancer Care Center specialist

For Immediate Release                                                             December 13, 2000


Sharon Regional has announced the appointment of George C. Garrow, M.D., board certified medical oncologist, as the new medical director of medical oncology at its Cancer Care Center in Hermitage. Dr. Garrow comes to Sharon Regional from the Pluta Family Cancer Center at the Genesee Hospital in Rochester, New York, where he served as co-director. He also served as chief of the division of medical oncology/hematology in the department of medicine at Genesee Hospital.

While in Rochester, Dr. Garrow also served as clinical assistant professor of oncology in medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. Dr. Garrow is a native of western Pennsylvania, having grown up in Uniontown and graduating from Laurel Highlands Senior High School.

In addition to seeing medical oncology patients fulltime at Sharon Regional's Cancer Care Center, Dr. Garrow, along with Dennis Ulewicz, M.D., medical director of radiation oncology, will plan and direct the cancer program including participation in national/international clinical trials, physician and staff education, development of community cancer awareness and detection programs, and evaluating the newest cancer diagnostic/treatment options, including PET (Positron Emission Tomography).

PET scanning is a nuclear imaging test for cancer patients that provides vital information about the function of cells and organs in the body to precisely detect and monitor the effectiveness of cancer treatment. Sharon Regional's Cancer Care Center will have this new technology available in early 2001.

Dr. Garrow joins Dr. Ulewicz, board certified radiation oncologist at the Cancer Care Center, along with Rochelle James, RN, MSN, OCN, program director, and a staff of more than 20 radiation oncology, medical oncology, laboratory, social work, and cancer nutritional staff based at the Center. Dr. Garrow received his undergraduate education from the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania and his medical education at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine's Milton S. Hershey Medical School.

Following an internal medicine residency at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center in Denver, he completed a medical oncology fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. He remained at Vanderbilt for an additional year completing an American Cancer Society Fellowship in Medical Oncology. He is a diplomate in medical oncology of the American Board of Internal Medicine and a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He has twice received the Humanitarian Care Award from the patient advocacy committee at Genesee Hospital in Rochester.

Sharon Regional's Cancer Care Center is the only facility of its kind in Mercer County, offering total cancer care within one new and modern location. The Center offers hematology and medical oncology consultation and treatment; radiation oncology consultation and treatment; certified nurses and therapists specializing in cancer treatment; access to national clinical trials, and a patient/community educational resources library.

The Cancer Care Center also offers additional on-site support for cancer patients and their families including nutritional counseling, social service counseling, rehabilitative services, pastoral services, laboratory services, home health/hospice coordinated programs, education programs, cancer support groups, and a community referral network.

For more information on the Cancer Care Center call Sharon Regional's Health Information Center at (724) 983-5518 or (800) 346-7997.