Winchester Medical Center Earns National Accreditation from the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons

The Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons, has granted Three-Year Accreditation to the Valley Health Cancer Center at Winchester Medical Center.

As a CoC-accredited program, the Cancer Center takes a multidisciplinary approach to treating cancer as a complex group of diseases that requires consultation among surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, diagnostic radiologists, pathologists, and other cancer specialists. This multidisciplinary partnership results in improved patient care.

To earn voluntary CoC accreditation, a cancer program must meet 34 CoC quality care standards, be evaluated every three years through a survey process, and maintain levels of excellence in the delivery of comprehensive patient-centered care.

The CoC Accreditation Program provides the framework for WMC to improve its quality of patient care through various cancer-related programs that focus on the full spectrum of cancer care including prevention, early diagnosis, cancer staging, optimal treatment, rehabilitation, life-long follow-up for recurrent disease, and end-of-life care. Patients have access to information on clinical trials and new treatments, genetic counseling, and patient centered services including psycho-social support, a patient navigation team, and survivorship care planning that seeks to improve cancer survivors’ quality of life.

In addition to CoC accreditation, WMC’s cancer program is accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers® and the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer, also quality programs of the American College of Surgeons. The Radiation Oncology Department is accredited through the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Accreditation Program for Excellence (APEx). The GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer has designated WMC as a Care Continuum Center of Excellence (CCCE).