FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 25, 2013
For information contact:
Elizabeth C. Duncan, Director of Media & Public Relations
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Saint Alphonsus Cancer Care Center Earns Outstanding Achievement Award from American College of Surgeons
Boise, Idaho - The Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons (ACoS) has granted the Saint Alphonsus Cancer Care Center the Outstanding Achievement Award.
The CoC’s Outstanding Achievement Award is designed to recognize cancer programs that achieve excellence in providing quality care to cancer patients and is considered the hallmark of excellence. The Saint Alphonsus Cancer Care Center is among only 19% of the programs surveyed who achieved this prestigious distinction.
“We are so proud and gratified to be listed among an elite group of cancer programs around the country and the only one in our region,” said Sally Jeffcoat, President and CEO, Saint Alphonsus Health System. “This award underscores the great dedication of our entire staff and the commitment throughout the health system to providing superior quality healing and hope close to home. This award represents the best of the best.”
When patients receive care at a CoC accredited facility, they have access to information on clinical trials and new treatments, genetic counseling, and patient centered services including integrative care, a patient navigation process, and a survivorship care plan. That plan documents the care each patient receives and seeks to improve cancer survivors’ quality of life. This award validates the outstanding efforts made daily at the Cancer Care Center to improve quality of patient care through various cancer related programs that focus on the full spectrum of care.
“More and more, we’re finding that patients and their families want to know how the health care institutions in their communities compare with one another,” said Daniel P. McKellar, MD, FACS, Chair of the CoC. “They want access to information in terms of who’s providing the best quality of care, and they want to know about overall patient outcomes. Through this recognition program, I’d like to think we’re playing a small, but vital role, in helping them make informed decisions on their cancer care.”
Like all CoC-accredited facilities, the Saint Alphonsus Cancer Care Center maintains a cancer registry and contributes data to the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB), a joint program of the CoC and American Cancer Society (ACS). This nationwide oncology outcomes database is the largest clinical disease registry in the world. Data on all types of cancer are tracked and analyzed through the NCDB and used to explore trends in cancer care.
CoC-accredited cancer centers, in turn, have access to information derived from this type of data analysis, which is used to create national, regional, and state benchmark reports. These reports help CoC facilities with their quality improvement efforts.
ACS estimates that more than 1.6 million cases of cancer will be diagnosed in 2013. There are currently more than 1,500 CoC-accredited cancer programs in the U.S. 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. When cancer patients choose to seek care locally at a CoC-accredited cancer center, they are gaining access to comprehensive, state-of-the-art cancer care close to home.
About Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center
Saint Alphonsus is a 387-licensed bed regional medical center serving people throughout the Northwest. As a not-for-profit medical center, Saint Alphonsus reinvests profits back into the community and works to improve the health and well-being of those we serve by emphasizing care that is patient-centered, innovative and community based. Saint Alphonsus focuses on providing services in a spiritual, healing environment, and is renowned for its state-of-the-art digital environment and pioneering technologies; award-winning clinical services; and the region’s only Level II Trauma Center. Saint Alphonsus is part of Saint Alphonsus Health System, a four-hospital, 714-bed integrated healthcare system serving the full range of the health and wellness needs of the people in southwestern Idaho, eastern Oregon and northern Nevada. Saint Alphonsus Health System is a member of Trinity Health.
For information about Saint Alphonsus visit www.saintalphonsus.org.
About the Commission on Cancer
Established in 1922 by the American College of Surgeons, the CoC 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. For more information, visit: www.facs.org/cancer
About Saint Alphonsus Health System
Saint Alphonsus Health System is a four-hospital, 714-bed regional, faith-based Catholic ministry with over 4,300 Associates and 950 medical staff. Serving the people of southwestern Idaho, eastern Oregon and northern Nevada, Saint Alphonsus Health System is comprised of Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, Boise, Idaho; Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Nampa, ID; Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Ontario, OR; Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Baker City, OR; Saint Alphonsus Medical Group, with more than 275 primary care and specialty care providers at 35 clinic locations. As a not-for-profit health system, Saint Alphonsus Health System reinvests profits back into the community and works to improve the health and well-being of those we serve by emphasizing care that is patient-centered, innovative and community-based. Saint Alphonsus Health System is a member of Trinity Health, Novi, Michigan. To find out more go to: www.saintalphonsushealthsystem.org
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