NARH cancer program has won a three-year approval
NORTH ADAMS - North Adams Regional Hospital’s cancer program has won a three-year approval with commendation from the Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons. Approval is given only to those facilities that have voluntarily committed to providing the highest level of quality cancer care and that undergo a rigorous evaluation process and review of their performances. Programs undergo an on-site review every three years.“We’re very pleased to receive approval with commendation from the Commission on Cancer, because it is an unbiased opinion of the quality of care we provide to cancer patients in north Berkshire,” said Paul Rosenthal, M.D., an oncologist with Berkshire Hematology Oncology, director of the Eileen Barrett Oncology Center, and chairman of the NARH Cancer Committee. “Cancer care in our area continues to advance with emphasis on quality patient care in the community, using all available modern therapies including radiation therapy, access to clinical trials, and perhaps most importantly, a highly qualified and compassionate staff.”
The cancer care program received commendations in seven areas, including prevention and early detection of cancer, improvements related to cancer care, outcomes analysis, abstracting timeframe, clinical trial accrual, patient guidelines, and American Joint Commission on Cancer staging.
Deborah Caron, Certified Tumor Registrar, maintains the cancer registry at NARH and tracks outcomes for more than 2,600 cancer patients dating back to 1996. The information is essential in tracking cancer incidence and trends, and in identifying factors that may contribute to the incidence of cancer.
The REACH Community Health Foundation’s REACH for Breast Health program provides services to improve prevention and early detection of cancers, with a strong community outreach effort. REACH for Breast Health, under the direction of Polly Macpherson, promotes annual screening mammograms and breast health education, and conducts numerous public events including “lunch and learn” workshops, health fairs, and the popular “Girls’ Night Out” which focuses on women’s health issues.
Rosenthal said the Barrett Oncology Center’s treatment philosophy focuses on the patient, offering a patient-friendly environment. Patients and their families are involved in treatment planning and decision-making, and families can remain with patients during treatment. The pleasant environment includes a fish tank, televisions, and books.
NARH’s cancer program provides care to hundreds of patients each year in the Barrett Oncology Center in the Ambulatory Care Center. A multidisciplinary team of physicians, clinicians, pathologists, social workers, dietitians, and tumor registrar, ensures comprehensive care for local cancer patients.
Receiving care at a cancer program approved by the Commission on Cancer ensures that a patient will have access to comprehensive care, including a range of state-of-the-art services and equipment; a multispecialty, team approach to coordinate the best treatment options; access to cancer-related information, education and support; a cancer registry that collects data on type and stage of cancers and treatment results and offers lifelong patient follow-up; ongoing monitoring and improvement of care; and quality care close to home.
The CoC’s core functions include setting standards for quality, multidisciplinary cancer patient care; surveying facilities to evaluate compliance with CoC standards; collecting standardized and quality data from approved facilities; and using the data to develop effective educational interventions to improve cancer care outcomes at the national, state, and local level.
