Your Visit

High quality cancer care in the rural High Sierra comes backed with plenty of experience, caring, and know-how. We strive to offer the very best patient experience, creating a model for rural cancer care.

The new Gene Upshaw Memorial Tahoe Forest Cancer Center is equipped with technology on par with almost any urban health system, and offers a full battery of medical evaluation, diagnosis and treatment programs. We offer medical oncology and hematology, radiation oncology, PET/CT scan, MRI and CT scan, ultrasound, digital mammography, chemotherapy infusion, pharmacy and lab services.

And as with any modern cancer center, we provide comprehensive physical therapy, family support, and a comprehensive psychosocial services program.

What’s more, our affiliation with the UC Davis Cancer Care Network afford us some of the best opportunities for clinical trials. Benefits of clinical trials include new drugs, therapies, and treatment strategies for difficult cancers.

The program is led by Medical Director, Medical Oncologist and Hematologist Ahrin Koppel, MD, Medical Oncologist and Hematologist Melissa Kaime, MD, FACP, Radiation Oncologist Kathleen Legarza, MD, and Medical Oncologist and Hematologist Thomas Semrad, MD, MAS, FACP.

Tahoe Forest Health System has been designated a UC Davis “Rural Center of Excellence” by UC Davis Health, which was established to help advance the delivery of quality health care in rural areas throughout California. Tahoe Forest Health System is also a proud affiliate in the UC Davis Cancer Care Network, which provides access to the best cancer research and diagnostic techniques.

UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center was recently designated as a “Comprehensive” Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute which certifies that their research, clinical education and outreach programs have met the stringent criteria set forth by the NCI. This makes UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center one of only 41 in the U.S. with this designation, which puts them in the company of MD Anderson, Memorial Sloan Kettering and Johns Hopkins, to name a few.

We are proud of our affiliation with UC Davis Cancer Care Network, an organization that unites five hospital-based cancer centers dedicated to providing quality cancer care in rural community settings. This network provides our Truckee/North Lake Tahoe community with:

• Virtual Tumor Boards:  All Cancer Care Network sites are linked through state-of-the-art telemedicine technology, giving oncologists and other clinicians opportunities to share information and formulate treatment plans.
• Clinical Trials: Evaluate appropriate clinical trials opportunities.
• Identify and facilitate patients who should be referred to UC Davis for specialty care.

“The affiliation with UC Davis is a big reason we chose Tahoe Forest Cancer Center. I attribute my successful treatment plan to the high level of care I received.”