Spokane Valley-based Cancer Care Northwest has partnered with St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center, in Lewiston, Idaho, to offer radiation oncology physician services to patients in the Lewis-Clark Valley and surrounding area.

The partnership brings Dr. Robert Fairbanks, an experienced, board-certified radiation oncologist to Lewiston as a full-time provider. Fairbanks began seeing patients toward the end of November at St. Joseph’s, says Sam Skinner, marketing and communications officer for the medical center.

Mark Schaber, marketing and business development manager for Cancer Care Northwest, says the practice and the hospital have been working together for many years but only recently was able to arrange for Fairbanks to be based in Lewiston.

Skinner says that St. Joseph’s previously had rotating providers caring for the patients in the rural community. The addition of Fairbanks enhances the radiation oncology services the hospital can offer by providing not just consistency of care, but a provider with expertise and years of experience, she says.

Cancer Care Northwest operates eight clinics throughout Eastern Washington and northern Idaho, in addition to four outreach clinics.

St. Joseph’s is the largest full-service regional medical center between Boise and Spokane. The hospital has more than 120 board-certified physicians and providers offering primary and specialty care.

Fairbanks has worked for  Cancer Care Northwest for 20 years in the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene areas. He serves as the radiation research director for the practice.

After completing his radiation oncology residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Fairbanks served as an associate professor at Texas A&M Medical School.

Resa Konkright, senior director of physician services at St. Joseph’s, says in a press release that Fairbanks has been instrumental in bringing new technology and procedures to the Pacific Northwest.

Schaber adds, “He’s had a great working relationship with St. Joseph’s for many years and is excited to be servicing this rural (Lewiston) community.”

Skinner says Fairbanks not only will provide care for existing patients but will increase the number of patients receiving treatment.

“The partnership between the (CCNW and St. Joseph’s) meets the needs of the community and is positioned to grow,” she says.