2025 Cancer Liaison Physician Outstanding Performance Winners

Umur Atabek, MD, FACS
Cooper University Health
Camden, NJ

“The CLP in part of our fantastic Comprehensive Cancer Program. A very long list of people contribute to excellent patient care.”

Irina Bernescu, MD, FACS
Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital Cancer Institute
Baltimore, Maryland

“The work of the CLP ensures that treatment standards are maintained; in addition, it identifies specific needs and thus opportunities for intervention and improvement in patient care.”

Jessica Cohan, MD, MAS, FASCRS, FACS 
University of Utah and Huntsman Cancer Institute
Salt Lake City, Utah

Andrew Fintel, DO
HCA LewisGale Salem/Pulaski
Salem, Virginia

“The CLP ensures high quality patient centered care which is done in many different ways. Quality improvement via implementation of standards and review of outcomes for our specific programs compared to the nation are amongst the most important.”

Christine A. Garcia, MD, MPH
Weill Cornell Medicine/New York Presbyterian
New York, New York

Paul Gordon, MD, FACS
Advocate Christ Medical Center
Oak Lawn, Illinois

“The Cancer Liaison Physician role is critically important to the Quality Assurance Program within our cancer center. The large amount of data available to the CLP allows for not only evaluation of cancer care, but also timeliness of care. With the quarterly CLP reports, we are able to bring quality issues or disparities in care to the forefront for evaluation by the entire committee and potential recommendation to the executive committees.”

Ihor Pidhorecky, MD, FSSO, FACS
HCA Florida Westside Hospital
Plantation, Florida

“The Cancer Liaison Physician plays a behind-the-scenes but vital role that translates directly into higher-quality, better-coordinated, and more effective cancer care for patients. Their leadership ensures that care is not only medically sound but also aligned with the best standards and continuously improving.”

Elizabeth Marie Rinehart, MD
Waterbury Hospital Health Center (Harold Leevar Regional Cancer Center)
Waterbury, Connecticut

Anthony Scholer, MD, MBS, FACS
Jersey Shore University Medical Center Hackensack Meridian
Neptune, New Jersey

“The Cancer Liaison Physician plays a critical role in bridging national quality standards with local practice to improve cancer care delivery. By leading data-driven performance improvement initiatives, facilitating multidisciplinary collaboration, and ensuring adherence to evidence-based guidelines, the CLP helps ensure that every patient receives timely, coordinated, and high-quality oncologic care. In my experience, the most meaningful impact comes from using cancer registry data to identify disparities or gaps in care, and then working collaboratively across specialties to implement targeted solutions that directly improve patient outcomes.”

Taylor Turner, MD, MS
St. Luke’s Cancer Institute
Boise, Idaho

“A CLP can bridge the gap between clinical care and quality data--helping clinicians adjust their day-to-day practices to steadily improve outcomes for all patients.”