Hoag gets $5 million gift for cancer chairman

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian would like to take a more interdisciplinary approach in treating its cancer patients, and it hopes a $5 million grant announced Thursday will help do that.

The interest from the endowment, provided by the George Hoag Family Foundation, will be used to pay a permanent, full-time salary for an executive, medical and scientific director of Hoag Cancer Center. Dr. Robert Dillman has started in this role, which makes him responsible for uniting all branches of cancer care.

Separate chairs of breast cancer, lung cancer, brain tumors and others answer to him, giving him a comprehensive view of cancer care.

Dillman has already worked on similar endeavors at Hoag, but not as an employee of the hospital exclusively. He would also work with private patients, go on lecture tours and give expert testimony.

— Alan Blank