Patrick Hybarger, MD

In 1984, Dr. Hybarger decided to put an end to the trauma experienced by patients who had skin cancer surgery at a non-KP facility and then had to endure pain and disfigurement until they could undergo reconstructive surgery.

With the assistance of two dermatologists, Dr. Hybarger developed San Rafael’s Mohs Micrographic Surgery & Reconstruction Program, which provides tumor removal and reconstruction in a single operative session. Over the next two decades, he built a team of 11 physicians — a dermatologist, seven head and neck surgeons who treat facial skin cancers, an occuloplastic surgeon who treats lesions involving the orbit, eyelid and globe, and two plastic surgeons who treat large lesions elsewhere on the body. “We’ve become the center for treatment of patients from around the region with large tumors, because we can handle anything and everything,” Dr. Hybarger notes.

“We’ve never had to refer a case out for reconstruction.” A recent study of more than 9,000 cases of non-melanoma skin cancers treated at San Rafael demonstrated the lowest tumor recurrence rates ever reported in the literature. “I believe that our cure rates are higher because in addition to having the surgeon look at the tissue slides, a board certified pathologist reads the slides on the spot – to assure that all of the cancerous tissue has been removed.”