People have come from around the world to be treated at UCLA Health hospitals in Los Angeles. Now, thanks to a new partnership, UCLA Health physicians are bringing world-class medical care to patients on the other side of the globe.
UCLA Health has joined with Guam Regional Medical City to treat people with cancer on the remote Pacific island east of the Philippines. A U.S. territory roughly the size of Chicago, with a population of about 170,000, Guam hasn’t always had access to specialized oncologists.
The new arrangement, however, allows UCLA Health oncologists with expertise in lung and breast cancer to remotely oversee patient care at Guam’s main hospital with the help of doctors and nurse practitioners on the ground.
It’s the first time UCLA Health physicians have treated international patients on their home turf in a sustained way, says John Zaki, MPH, who works with UCLA Health’s patient navigation and business services.
“It’s unique because it’s very patient-facing,” Zaki says, adding that UCLA Health’s other overseas partnerships are more about institutional support: advising on the creation of a heart-transplant program in Indonesia, for example, or providing medical education in Hong Kong.
Bringing equitable care to the island
UCLA Health thoracic oncologist Amy Cummings, MD, PhD, was the first physician to sign on for the Guam partnership.
Dr. Cummings previously led the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, so it was easy to say yes to an opportunity to serve people experiencing barriers to care, she says.
“It was part of my role to support anything that was going to promote equitable care,” Dr. Cummings says. “That’s a big passion of mine: ensuring that we decrease and ideally eliminate disparities in lung cancer and all cancer, so it was very much in line with that role and my philosophy.”
Dr. Cummings visited Guam Regional Medical City after joining the partnership in 2023 and securing her medical licenses there, then began seeing patients in September of 2024 – including one whom she had previously treated in Los Angeles.
“She didn’t know I was the lung cancer doctor for Guam Regional Medical City,” Dr. Cummings says, “and she was just thrilled I’d be able to continue to follow her when she went back to the island.”
How does it work?
Dr. Cummings uses a telehealth platform to meet with patients and nurse practitioners in Guam, who carry out her prescribed care.
There are some challenges to providing treatment to patients halfway around the world – and not just the 17-hour time difference. Certain oral therapies Dr. Cummings regularly prescribes aren’t available on the island, and the hospital’s diagnostic capabilities were limited when the UCLA Health partnership began.
Dr. Cummings, though, was able to leverage relationships with some of UCLA Health’s industry partners to bring advanced diagnostics, such as molecular sequencing, to Guam Regional Medical City.
The hospital “used to really struggle with getting diagnostic testing, and now it’s all streamlined,” she says. “It’s just as good as I get here at UCLA.”
She’s also found workarounds for accessing best-in-class treatments on the island – in one case, shipping medications overseas herself.
“Pretty much any (company) that I've reached out to has gone above and beyond for me, helping me figure out how to get the best drugs and best therapies to the right patients, even if they have to figure out how to make it work in Guam,” Dr. Cummings says. “We’ve brought new treatments to the island, including things that were very hard to access before.”
The Guam project began with lung cancer because it’s one of the highest-mortality cancers, she says, and one where improving continuity of care can significantly impact quality of life.
The program’s success in helping these patients has already led to expansion: Arjan Gower, MD, who specializes in treating breast cancer, joined the Guam partnership earlier this year. He started seeing patients over the summer and is excited about the potential of bringing new therapies to the island.
“In breast cancer, precision medicine and tailoring therapies are really at the forefront now,” says Dr. Gower, also a member of the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. “There are so many new therapies in breast cancer that I hope become available to patients in Guam that can really benefit them.”
Both Zaki and Dr. Cummings say the success of the Guam project shows this remote-partnership model is effective in improving patient care.
“The Guam Regional Medical City oncology teleconsult program has been proof that this kind of care can be offered and can be successful internationally,” Zaki says.
“This partnership allows patients to get the care they need as close to home as possible,” adds Michael Burke, MHA, chief of international and business development services for UCLA Health. “Our goal is to continue improving upon and expanding that model to other regions.”
Dr. Cummings is also inspired by the willingness of UCLA Health’s partners to support such efforts.
“It’s just everybody chipping in for the right reasons,” she says. “At the end of the day, we all want the same thing, and that’s for people to not have to die from cancer.”
