A small, mighty cancer center brings hope to its visitors
Published 1:30 am Thursday, April 16, 2026
By Marieke Danniau, Journal contributor
The Deanna J. Anderson Cancer Care and Specialty Center at PeaceHealth Peace Island Medical Center is small but mighty, focusing on patient relations and on-island treatments. Named after Deanna J. Anderson, a victim of cancer herself, the center gives care to islanders in her name, hoping to reduce the otherwise frequent, arduous, and expensive trips off-island that she had to endure during her fight.
The Cancer Center offers chemotherapy infusion, immunotherapy, and cancer prevention services like colonoscopies and mammograms. According to PeaceHealth, “In 2025, the Cancer Center saw 2,402 patients for consults, follow-ups, and infusion, including those who received non-chemo infusion. In fiscal year 2025, we provided 1,180 chemo-only infusion treatments.” The nurses at the cancer center are all oncology certified, and there is a medical oncologist who visits every Monday. Patients requiring radiation, and any visit involving an overnight stay, still have to make the journey off-island for that care.
Although the Cancer Center isn’t able to provide everything, what it does provide aids islanders in receiving care where they are and within a supportive and close-knit community. Volunteer organization, Peace Island Volunteers, offers chemocomfort baskets filled with all sorts of helpful items, from books on cancer to herbal teas to skin creams. The volunteers also host graduation celebrations for cancer patients, along with other hospital assistance. Shannon Harris, Oncology Program Coordinator at Peace Island, said about the Cancer Center, “I think the care is a lot more personal; we know patients outside of the center.” In a bigger city or in a cancer center that serves more patients, those relationships between patients and staff may not form. On an island, though, patients are far more likely to run into people they know from the Center at the grocery store, or the post office, or even just walking around Friday Harbor. Being able to stay on-island for cancer treatments saves time, money, energy, and heartache.
In 2005, the Cancer Center’s namesake, Deanna J. Anderson, passed away from stage four colon cancer. Deanna J. Anderson’s husband, Charles Anderson, having personally witnessed what a battle with cancer was like on an island that had no hospital, began a mission to bring much-needed care to the place he and his wife had called home for almost thirty years. Charles Anderson, as chair of the San Juan Island Community Foundation, pushed the creation of Peace Island forward, raising over 10 million dollars. The Center was built as part of Peace Island Medical Center in 2012.
Fittingly, the Deanna J. Anderson Cancer Center organized an awareness campaign focused on colorectal cancer during March, decorating the hospital with blue ribbons and even making a song about the occasion. According to the World Health Organization, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide, so screenings are crucial in catching the cancer before it’s too late.
A sculpture hangs from the ceiling of the Cancer Center, depicting trapeze artists reaching for one another, symbolizing the leap of faith patients have to take when receiving care and the nurses, doctors, and hospital staff who are waiting and ready to catch them. About the Cancer Center, Charles Anderson said, “Out of the horrible fate of my wife Deanna has come the perfect memorial that has helped so many islanders.”
