Our Cancer Care program has been awarded the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons since 1990.
As is such, if you or someone you love has been diagnosed with cancer, you will have many important issues to consider and decisions to make. But there is one very important thing you won’t have to worry about – and that is, where you can find the best possible treatment for your condition. That’s because the best in today’s cancer care is available right here, close to home in Ottumwa, Iowa.
Our oncology program has been recognized by the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons as offering high quality cancer care. Only one in four hospitals that treat cancer receive this special approval. It is a recognition of the quality of our comprehensive patient care and of our commitment that you will have access to all of the various medical specialists who are involved in diagnosing and treating cancer.
Receiving care at a Commission on Cancer approved cancer program ensures that you will receive:
- Quality care close to home.
- Comprehensive care offering a range of state-of-the art services and equipment.
- A multi-specialty, team approach to coordinate the best treatment options available to cancer patients.
- 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.
- Information about ongoing cancer clinical trials and new treatment options.
Approval by the Commission on Cancer is given only to those facilities that have voluntarily committed to provide the best in diagnosis and treatment of cancer. To meet the standards necessary for Commission approval, each cancer program, and the organization that controls it, must undergo a rigorous evaluation process and a review of its performance. In order to maintain approval, facilities with approved cancer programs must undergo an on-site review every three years.
In Iowa there are 13 approved programs, all of them are on or north of I-80 with the single exception of Ottumwa. In Missouri, there are numerous certified programs in St. Louis and Kansas City, but there are no certified programs north of I-70.
The Approved Hospital Cancer Program encourages hospitals, treatment centers, and other facilities to improve their quality of patient care through various cancer-related programs. These programs are concerned with prevention, early diagnosis, pretreatment evaluation, staging, optimal treatment, rehabilitation, surveillance for recurrent disease and multiple primary tumors, psychosocial support, and care at the end of life. This availability of a full range of medical services involved in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer at approved cancer programs has resulted in approximately 80 percent of all newly diagnosed cancer patients being treated in Commission on Cancer approved cancer programs.
Currently there are approximately 1,500 Commission on Cancer approved cancer programs in the United States and Puerto Rico, representing close to 25 percent of all hospitals. In addition, there is a network of more than 2,000 volunteer physician representatives who support cancer-control activities in their local communities.
So as you begin thinking about treatment and ongoing care for your condition, you can be assured that you won’t need to travel great distances from home, because you can receive the care you need right here in Ottumwa. No one can guarantee the outcome of any type of treatment, but by coming to our approved cancer treatment program, you can be sure that you will receive the best in diagnosis and treatment of cancer and that full consultative services will be available from all medical disciplines involved in diagnosing and treating cancer. And you can be sure that your condition will be watched carefully through a lifelong program of follow-up care.
If you have questions about our cancer program, please call me, Ted Wolfe, Executive Director, McCreery Cancer Center at 641-684-2742. For more information about the Approved Cancer Program of the Commission on Cancer, call the American College of Surgeons at 312-202-5085 or visit the Cancer Approvals Program area of the American College of Surgeons Web site at
http://www.facs.org/cancer/coc/cocar.html