Wilmot Cancer Center Gets Excellence Award for Cancer Care Programs

The James P. Wilmot Cancer Center at the University of Rochester Medical Center has received a New Program Outstanding Achievement Award from the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons. This prestigious award was given to only eight cancer centers in the country.

“This is important recognition for the outstanding doctors, nurses, scientists and staff at the Wilmot Cancer Center who maintain the highest standards of care for our patients,” said Richard I. Fisher, M.D., director of the Wilmot Cancer Center.

The Wilmot Cancer Center last year received a three-year accreditation with six commendations for outstanding care, placing the center among the tops in the nation. The ACoS Commission on Cancer is a consortium of organizations dedicated to improving survival and quality of life for people with cancer through prevention, research, education programs, and the monitoring of comprehensive quality care. The Wilmot Cancer Committee is led by Kristin Skinner, M.D., chief of surgical oncology.

In 2009, the ACoS reviewed more than 430 cancer programs and a mere 2 percent received this honor, which came after an evaluation of center’s cancer committee leadership, data management, research, community outreach and quality improvement.

Only one in four cancer programs in the country are accredited by ACoS. Even fewer receive commendation, the highest level of accreditation. Approximately 80 percent of newly diagnosed cancer patients seek care at an ACoS accredited cancer program.

The Commission on Cancer believes that the best cancer care is multidisciplinary in nature. To qualify for accreditation, cancer programs must successfully demonstrate compliance with a rigorous examination of 36 standards that include prevention, early diagnosis, pre-treatment evaluation, staging, optimal treatment, and rehabilitation.

Over the past decade the Wilmot Cancer Center has developed strong multidisciplinary programs, which bring teams of doctors together to provide comprehensive care for each patient. The center has developed large clinical and research programs in lymphoma and leukemia, and genitourinary, gastrointestinal, breast, head and neck, and lung cancers. 

Approved programs must also demonstrate surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, diagnostic radiologists, pathologists, and other cancer specialists collaborate to provide quality patient care. In addition, centers must provide follow-up of patients after treatment, continuous quality review of management, a high level of support services, as well as end-of-life care.