Cancer Center Earns Outstanding Achievement Award
Program is among less than 25 percent of programs nationwide earning honor for 2011
STONY BROOK, N.Y. , April 2, 2012 – The Stony Brook University Cancer Center has earned the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons (ACoS) in recognition of its excellence in providing quality care to its patients.
Stony Brook received the award based on its performance during the Commission’s accreditation site visit in November 2011. During the visit, Stony Brook demonstrated a “commendation” level of compliance regarding seven standards in six areas: cancer committee leadership, cancer data management, clinical management, research, community outreach, and quality improvement. The center also received a compliance rating for the remaining 29 cancer program standards.
Stony Brook’s Cancer Center is one of only 106 cancer programs in the United States that received the Outstanding Achievement Award, based on surveys of nearly 500 cancer programs nationwide in 2011. A majority of the award recipients are community-based facilities; however, teaching hospitals, NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, VA hospitals, and Network Cancer Programs also received the award.
“This award places Stony Brook in select company on a national stage,” said Yusuf A Hannun, M.D., Director, Stony Brook University Cancer Center, Vice Dean for Cancer Medicine at the Stony Brook University School of Medicine, and Joel Kenny Professor of Medicine at Stony Brook University. “It’s a testament to the skill, dedication and professionalism of our entire cancer team, who provide outstanding quality care to our patients every day.”
In December, Stony Brook’s Cancer Center received its three-year CoC accreditation with commendation as a Teaching Hospital Cancer Program. Accreditation signifies that the Cancer Center has met quality-of-care standards for cancer programs. It is given only to facilities that have voluntarily committed to providing the highest level of quality cancer care and undergo a rigorous evaluation process and review of their performance. To maintain its accreditation, Stony Brook undergoes an on-site review every three years.
There are currently more than 1,500 CoC-accredited cancer programs in the US and Puerto Rico, representing 30 percent of all hospitals. CoC-accredited facilities diagnose and/or treat more than 70 percent of all newly diagnosed cancer patients each year.
Established in 1922 by the American College of Surgeons, the Commission on Cancer is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to improving patient outcomes and quality of life for cancer patients through standard-setting, prevention, research, education, and the monitoring of comprehensive quality care. Its membership includes Fellows of the American College of Surgeons and representatives of 49 national organizations that reflect the full spectrum of cancer care.
The CoC provides the public with information on the resources, services, and cancer treatment experience for each CoC-accredited cancer program through the CoC Hospital Locator athttp://www.facs.org/cancerprogram/index.html and through the American Cancer Society’s National Cancer Information Center at 1-800-ACS-2345.
About Stony Brook University Cancer Center:
Stony Brook University Cancer Center is Suffolk County’s cancer care leader and a leader in education and research. With more than 20,000 inpatient and outpatient visits annually, the Cancer Center includes 12 multidisciplinary teams: Breast Cancer; Colorectal Cancer; Gynecologic Oncology; Head, Neck and Thyroid Oncology; Lung Cancer; Melanoma; Neurologic Oncology; Pediatric Hematology/Oncology; Sarcoma; Stem Cell Transplantation and Hematologic Malignancy; Upper Gastrointestinal Oncology; and Urologic Oncology. The cancer program is accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer as a Teaching Hospital Cancer Program and received the Commission’s Outstanding Achievement Award. The Carol M. Baldwin Breast Care Center is the first center in New York State to be accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. Stony Brook’s Department of Radiation Oncology is accredited by the American College of Radiology and the American Society for Radiation Oncology. To learn more, visitwww.cancer.stonybrookmedicine.edu.
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© Stony Brook University 2012
