The American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer recently announced that the Program in Women's Oncology at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island earned a three-year accreditation with commendation.
The announcement came as a result of a successful site visit in late September, according to Margaret M. Steinhoff, MD, chair of the hospital's Cancer Committee.
"This accreditation with commendation is testimony to the quality of care available for women with cancer at the Program in Women's Oncology, and the dedication and passion of the staff working here," Dr. Steinhoff notes.
The Commission on Cancer (CoC) lists five elements that are key to the success of a cancer program:
- State-of-the-art pretreatment evaluation, staging, treatment and clinical follow-up for cancer patients with primary, secondary, tertiary or end-of-life care
- A Cancer Committee that leads the program through setting goals, monitoring activity, evaluation patient outcomes and improving care
- Cancer conferences (Tumor Board at Women & Infants) that provide a forum for patient consultation and contribute to physician education
- A quality improvement program that serves as a mechanism for evaluating and improving patient outcomes
- A cancer registry and database that serves as the basis for monitoring the quality of care
The CoC will not even send a team out to evaluate a program if it does not meet certain criteria, including having a multidisciplinary approach to cancer care that includes diagnostic imaging, radiation oncology services, systemic therapy services, clinical trials, psychosocial support services, rehabilitation services and nutrition services.
"Being accredited by such a respected national organization tells women across the region that Women & Infants is the place to come for the best possible care for gynecologic or breast cancer," says Cornelius "Skip" Granai III, MD, director of the Program in Women's Oncology. "We have access to the full scope of services required to diagnose, treat, rehabilitate and support patients with cancer and their families."
For more information or to make an appointment, go to Program in Women's Oncology or call (401) 453-7520.
About Women & Infants Hospital
Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, is one of the nation’s leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns. A major teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics, as well as a number of specialized programs in women’s medicine, Women & Infants is the 9th largest stand-alone obstetrical service in the country and the largest in New England with approximately 8,500 deliveries per year. A
Designated Baby-Friendly® USA hospital, U.S.News & World Report 2014-15 Best Children’s Hospital in Neonatology and a 2014 Leapfrog Top Hospital, in 2009 Women & Infants opened what was at the time the country’s largest, single-family room neonatal intensive care unit.
Women & Infants and Brown offer fellowship programs in gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, neonatal-perinatal medicine, pediatric and perinatal pathology, gynecologic pathology and cytopathology, and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. It is home to the nation’s first mother-baby perinatal psychiatric partial hospital, as well as the nation’s only fellowship program in obstetric medicine.
Women & Infants has been designated as a
Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiography; a Center of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecology; a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence by the
National Institutes of Health (NIH); and a Neonatal Resource Services Center of Excellence. It is one of the largest and most prestigious research facilities in high risk and normal obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics in the nation, and is a member of the National Cancer Institute’s
Gynecologic Oncology Group and the Pelvic Floor Disorders Network.