A conversation with Ashwani Rajput, M.D., FACS, regional executive medical director for Providence Swedish Cancer Institute.
We are pleased to introduce Dr. Ashwani Rajput, who joined Swedish as regional executive medical director for Providence Swedish Cancer Institute in September 2024.
Dr. Rajput brings with him a wealth of experience as a surgical oncologist and health care leader, coming to us most recently from Johns Hopkins University and the Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Washington, D.C.
With a passion for patient-centered care and a focus on health equity, Dr. Rajput is dedicated to expanding access to leading-edge treatments and addressing disparities in cancer care. He envisions advancing Swedish’s clinical programs and research, while continuing to build on the institute’s rich tradition of excellence in cancer care across the region.
What inspired you to pursue a career in cancer care?
I knew I wanted to be a surgeon, but I wasn’t sure what type. I thought I would pursue pediatric surgery. I changed gears and shifted to oncology because I found that the cancer patients were so kind, even though they were going through probably one of the most challenging and difficult times in their lives. It was an honor to help them on their journey to, hopefully, a cure and, for those with advanced disease, their end of life — it was just very, very rewarding.
The second part of it was really the academic curiosity and the research opportunities — what we could do to combine research and then translate that into the clinic to provide people with better outcomes. That’s why I chose oncology.
Why did you feel compelled to go into health care leadership?
I’ll frame it with a story: In 2009, I was recruited to the University of New Mexico to be the inaugural division chief for surgical oncology. They didn’t have a division of surgical oncology at the time and New Mexico is a very resource-poor state. There were a lot of services that weren’t offered in the state, so patients had to leave — they had to go to Colorado, Texas, or Arizona.
One of the things I was charged to do was to build a division of surgical oncology and to build the surgical services for the cancer center that subsequently went on to get comprehensive designation from the National Cancer Institute. Through that experience and the leadership aspect, I was not only able to impact the people who I took care of, but I was able to impact the entire state.
For those reasons, I’m excited to be here to lead Providence Swedish Cancer Institute because there’s a potential to have an impact on the entire region in terms of cancer care and providing the services for a population. It’s very rewarding.
Across cancer care and research, what are the primary challenges you see?
We’ve made a lot of progress in cancer care. We had peak mortality from cancer in the early 90s, and we’ve dropped that mortality rate about 32 percent, which is amazing. And why? Because we’ve concentrated on smoking cessation, we’ve really pushed screening in breast cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and even prostate cancer.
The challenge is that not everybody has benefited. There are different populations within our communities that don’t benefit equally from the progress that we’ve made. I think it’s very important in the health care field to think about equity, and that’s something we need to work on. For example, when mammography first became available, it worsened the disparity between underserved women and women who were more affluent, because the more affluent women had access to the mammography and the underserved population did not.
One of the most impactful things in the last five to 10 years has been immunotherapy. We’re seeing fantastic outcomes in some of our hematologic malignancies, and now those medications and those research findings are being applied in solid tumors, especially in diseases like melanoma. In 2024 and beyond, when we talk about oncology, we also must think about personalized therapies. What are the drivers of this cancer? Do all populations have access to that leading-edge technology and that personalized medicine and oncology?
What work are you most excited to advance here at Swedish?
Providence Swedish Cancer Institute has an incredible history. I think we can continue this rich tradition of cancer care in our communities and use that as a strong foundation for 2024 and beyond. You can find disparities in care no matter how you define a population: It can be gender-based, it can be age-based, it can be race-based. It can also be urban- versus rural-based. I think there are a lot of opportunities for health equity work in our area.
I’m also excited to be part of the culture here that’s very collaborative, very welcoming. I came here because of the passion that I saw people have caring for patients and giving them great outcomes. I’m excited about taking us to the next level and continuing to grow our clinical programs as well as our research. I’m also looking forward to expediting some of the leading-edge care we do and bringing some of our research into the clinic to have a greater impact.
How does philanthropy accelerate your work?
It’s incredible. As we care for our communities and we build healthier communities, those who can give funds to impact care can really make a big difference. In my prior position, we had a huge disparity in certain parts of Washington, D.C. There’s a health care desert in one part of the city, and most of the population in that area is underserved. Their incidence and mortality rates were two to three times higher than the parts of the city that were more affluent.
With philanthropic dollars, we started a cancer care clinic in collaboration with a federally qualified health care center. One foundation started donating, then other people heard about what we were doing and built on that. People in the community kept adding on.
We’re fortunate that some of our caregivers at Swedish have been successful in getting government funding, but only about 8 percent of grants get funded. The other 92 percent are also wonderful ideas that need help to get off the ground. Philanthropy can provide seed money to get a project off the ground, get preliminary data, and serve as the basis for getting additional funding for moving a project to the next stage.
Can you share any moments that have impacted you the most?
It’s such an honor to be a surgical oncologist and be allowed to operate on someone — to be able to get them back to their home and their life and, hopefully, in partnership with our medical oncology and radiation colleagues, achieve a cure for them. There are some patients that still message me and thank me, and some are 15, 18, 20 years out from their care. It’s very rewarding to see that and see them enjoying their lives.
About the Swedish Foundation
Your generous gift helps support a healthy tomorrow for everyone in every communty we serve. Learn about more ways to give to the Swedish Foundation or make a direct donation online at swedishfoundation.org. You can also contact the Foundation at 206-368-2738 or email foundation@swedish.org. Thank you for helping us shape the future of healthcare. We can’t do it without you.
