PRESIDENT'S THEME 2023-2024

Olalekan Ajayi, PharmD, MBA, chief operating officer for Highlands Oncology Group, PA, was named president of the Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC) on Friday, March 10, at the ACCC 49th Annual Meeting & Cancer Center Business Summit (#AMCCBS), where oncology professionals gathered to discuss the convergence of business, policy, and technology in cancer care.

"One of the greatest challenges we face over the next decade is related to our oncology workforce. Specifically, will we have enough providers and staff to support and deliver lifesaving treatments to patients?" Dr. Ajayi shared. "It is a question that keeps me up at night and one reason my 2023-2024 ACCC President's Theme will focus on (Re)Building the Oncology Workforce to Deliver Next Generation Cancer Care."

To accomplish this goal, over the next 12 months, ACCC will focus time and resources to:

1. Identify, develop, and deliver educational and advocacy resources to expand the capacity of the cancer care workforce, exploring innovative ways to deliver the highest quality of care. "This means helping our workforce access the tools, information, and technology necessary to unlock their ability to deliver care at a higher level," said Dr. Ajayi.
2. Collaborate with thought leaders and key stakeholders across multidisciplinary organizations to identify, foster, and mentor future leaders in cancer care delivery. "This will require us to think differently about what a leader looks like, where our leaders come from, and what formal training our leaders need," advised Dr. Ajayi.
3. Broaden the coalition of the oncology workforce to reflect the growing complexity of cancer care and to realize more equitable cancer care delivery. "This will require all of us working together to add new disciplines, diverse educational backgrounds, distinctive community voices, and unique experiences and perspectives into our cancer care delivery teams," clarified Dr. Ajayi.

"Making healthcare—particularly lifesaving care like cancer treatment—accessible to everyone should be our calling. Whether we are talking about race, geography, age, socioeconomic status, or any other individual characteristics, what is better than having providers who reflect the communities where they live and work, providers with cultural humility and the desire to understand what their patients value, and providers who can walk a mile in their patient's shoes?" Dr. Ajayi asked. "Those are the providers we need to rebuild our oncology workforce; those are the providers who will succeed in delivering next generation care."

The resources and tools that will be developed in conjunction with Dr. Ajayi's 2023-2024 ACCC President's Theme will be posted to this webpage as they become available.

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