Saint Anne’s Hospital earns national accreditation with commendation from the Commission on Cancer

Jan 25, 2019

Fall River, MA – Saint Anne’s Hospital Regional Cancer Center has been awarded three-year accreditation with commendation by the Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons.

To earn CoC accreditation, a cancer program must meet or exceed the 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. Three-year accreditation with commendation is awarded only to facilities that exceed standard requirements at the time of its triennial survey. 

Saint Anne’s Hospital’s cancer care program was established in 1976 and first accredited by the Commission on Cancer in 1982. As a CoC-accredited cancer program, Saint Anne’s 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. 

“For more than 40 years, Saint Anne’s has had the privilege of caring for thousands of patients with a cancer diagnosis,” said the hospital’s president, Michael Bushell. “We are proud of the high level of professionalism and sensitivity that our entire oncology team brings to their work. This re-accreditation with commendation exemplifies the expert care and compassion they provide to patients throughout the cancer experience, right from initial diagnosis through treatment and beyond.”

CoC accreditation is a voluntary program that provides the framework for Saint Anne’s 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. When patients receive care at a CoC facility, they also have access to information on clinical trials and new treatments, genetic counseling, and patient centered services including psycho-social support, a patient navigation process, and a survivorship care plan that documents the care each patient receives and seeks to improve cancer survivors’ quality of life.

Like all CoC-accredited facilities, Saint Anne’s Hospital maintains a cancer registry and contributes data to the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB), a joint program of the CoC and American Cancer Society. 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.  

The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 1.7 million cases of cancer will be diagnosed in 2019. There are currently more than 1,500 CoC-accredited cancer programs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. 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.

The CoC provides the public with information on the resources, services, and cancer treatment experience for each CoC-accredited cancer program. To find an accredited program, visit the CoC Hospital Locator at https://www.facs.org/search/cancer-programs.

About the Commission on Cancer

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. For more information, visit www.facs.org/cancer.

About Saint Anne’s Hospital Regional Cancer Center

Founded in 1976, Saint Anne’s Hospital Regional Cancer Center provides expertise in a community setting to patients in the Greater Fall River-Greater New Bedford, Massachusetts area. With locations at the Hudner Oncology Center at Saint Anne’s Hospital, Fall River, and Saint Anne’s Hospital Regional Cancer Center in Dartmouth, the center provides comprehensive medical oncology and hematology care; radiation oncology services provided in collaboration with radiation physician specialists from Brigham and Women's Physician Organization who hold appointments at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; access to national clinical trials; and professional and patient/family support services.

Saint Anne’s Hospital Regional Cancer Center is nationally accredited with commendation by the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons as a comprehensive community cancer program. It also is unconditionally accredited in radiation oncology by the American College of Radiology.

About Saint Anne’s Hospital

Founded by the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation in 1906, Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Massachusetts, is a full-service, acute care Catholic hospital with 211 beds and satellite locations in Attleboro, Swansea, Dartmouth, New Bedford, and Stoughton, Massachusetts.

A member of Steward Health Care, Saint Anne’s provides nationally recognized patient- and family-centered inpatient care and outpatient clinical services to patients from surrounding Massachusetts and Rhode Island communities. For two consecutive years, Saint Anne’s has been named a Top Hospital in the U.S. by The Leapfrog Group for quality and safety. In addition, Saint Anne’s has earned the Leapfrog Group’s “Straight A’s” grade for patient safety since the award’s inception in 2012.

In addition to cancer care, the hospital’s key services include the Center for Orthopedic Excellence; surgical services, including multiple robotic-assisted surgical capabilities and two ambulatory surgery centers; the Center for Pain Management; the Spine Center; and inpatient geriatric psychiatry services.  Follow Saint Anne’s Hospital on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.