Universities of California Colorectal Surgery Collaborative Mission Statement

A collaborative effort among the 5 Universities of California (UC) Institutions was convened in November of 2011 to focus on opportunities for improvement in care of patients with benign and malignant colorectal diseases. Colorectal surgeons and other interested parties were present. Goals of the collaborative meeting included the following: to broaden our knowledge about geographically diverse patients at the different UC institutions, to integrate clinical research and care across the UC campuses to improve diagnosis and treatment of benign and malignant colorectal disease, to evaluate our current standard of care in colorectal surgery and develop interventions to improve quality of care, to develop multidisciplinary and multi-institutional conferences that would allow us to advance our knowledge of patients with unusual diseases, and to promote surgical education and training via exchange programs. The collaborative effort has strong leadership from all the UCs, an in-progress UC-wide data collection program, and resources from the successful implementation of a UC-wide breast health care system, all of which will help ensure a successful colorectal collaborative program.