Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, Sutter Cancer Center Win Outstanding Achievement Award

SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 7, 2009 - Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento/Sutter Cancer Center has been awarded the 2008 Outstanding Achievement Award from The Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons.

"This amazing milestone would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of all those who have a hand in providing cancer services to our patients," Tom Gagen, CEO, Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento said. "Together, this team's efforts make all the difference to our patients and their families."

Established in 2004, the CoC Outstanding Achievement Award recognizes cancer programs that strive for excellence in providing quality care to cancer patients. A facility receives the award following the on-site evaluation by a physician surveyor, during which time the facility demonstrates a Commendation level of compliance with seven standards that represent the full scope of the cancer program: cancer committee leadership, cancer data management, clinical services, research, community outreach and quality improvement. In addition, the facility receives a compliance rating for the remaining 29 cancer program standards. Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento/Sutter Cancer Center's on-site evaluation took place on April 24, 2008.

"We are ecstatic over this recognition," Gregory M. Graves, M.D., medical director, Sutter Cancer Center, Sacramento, said. "We are very proud of the comprehensive and quality cancer services we offer to patients, family members and other caregivers. This honor from The Commission on Cancer is a wonderful acknowledgement of the commitment we have to our patients."

Ninety-five programs nationwide received the Outstanding Achievement Award as a result of surveys performed in 2008. This represents approximately 19 percent of the 478 programs surveyed during this period. A majority of recipients are community-based facilities; however, teaching hospitals, National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and Network Cancer Programs also received the award.

Ten other California-based hospitals won the award, including four others from Northern California: Sutter Health affiliate Marin General Hospital, Greenbrae; Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula, Monterey; Queen of the Valley Medical Center, Napa; and Doctors Medical Center-San Pablo Campus, San Pablo.

About Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento/Sutter Cancer Center
Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento first offered treatment services to cancer patients in 1942, treating 25 patients that year. In the nearly seven decades that have followed, Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento/Sutter Cancer Center, Sacramento has demonstrated a consistent commitment to innovation and quality in the care of cancer patients in the greater Sacramento area. The hospital's cancer program now diagnoses or treats almost 2,000 patients per year from throughout Northern California. From the beginning, Sutter Cancer Center has incorporated clinical trials into medical practice to allow patients access to the latest advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Nearly 2,000 Sutter patients have volunteered as research participants in prevention and treatment trials, taking advantage of leading-edge therapies and furthering medical knowledge for patients everywhere. Included in this number are more than 250 children who have participated through the pediatric oncology research program that began at Sutter in 1994.

Sutter's commitment to excellence continues to expand the breadth and depth of services offered. Throughout the region, patients have access to advanced technologies and treatments, including Gamma Knife Radiosurgery for treating brain tumors without traditional "open" surgery; the da Vinci system for robot-assisted prostate and kidney cancer surgery; thermal ablation for nonsurgical tumor treatment; blood and marrow transplantation, and integrated acute leukemia programs for those with hematological malignancies; nuclear medicine for bone pain control and many others.

As a program committed to caring for people, Sutter Cancer Center also offers extensive services that address the nutritional, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of healing, including a wide variety of different counseling, a resource library, art, dance and music therapies; children's bereavement art group, support groups, hospice and a cancer registry.

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 survival and quality of life for cancer patients though standard-setting, prevention, research, education and the monitoring of comprehensive quality care. Its membership includes Fellows of the American College of Surgeons and representatives of 47 national organizations that reflect the full spectrum of cancer care.

The CoC's core functions include setting the standards for quality, multidisciplinary cancer patient care; surveying facilities to evaluate compliance with 36 CoC standards; collecting standardized, high quality data from accredited facilities; and using the data to develop effective educational interventions to improve cancer care outcomes at the national, state and local level. There are currently more than 1,400 CoC-accredited cancer programs in the United States and Puerto Rico, representing close to 25 percent of all hospitals. These CoC-accredited facilities diagnose and/or treat 80 percent of newly diagnosed cancer patients each year.

The Accreditation Program, a component of the CoC, sets quality-of-care standards for cancer programs and reviews the programs to ensure that they conform to those standards. Accreditation by the CoC is given only to those facilities that have voluntarily committed to providing the highest level of quality care and that undergo a rigorous evaluation process and review of their performance. To maintain accreditation, facilities with CoC-accredited cancer programs must undergo an on-site review every three years. Receiving care at a CoC-accredited cancer program ensures that a patient will have access to the full quality spectrum of comprehensive cancer care close to home.

In addition, cancer patient data are reported by each CoC-accredited cancer program to the CoC's National Cancer Data Base, a joint program with the American Cancer Society. These data account for approximately two-thirds of the newly diagnosed cancer cases in the U.S. each year, and are used regularly to monitor the quality of patient care delivered in CoC-accredited programs, and to improve cancer care outcomes at national and local levels. The CoC requires programs to implement quality improvement initiatives that promote the delivery of quality, multidisciplinary cancer care and lead to ongoing educational interventions with local providers in the CoC-accredited cancer programs.

Through an exclusive partnership with the American Cancer Society, the CoC provides the public with information on the resources, services and cancer treatment experiences for each CoC-accredited program. This information is shared with the public on the ACS Web site at www.cancer.org and through the ACS National Cancer Information Center at 1-800-ACS-2345.

Sutter Cancer Center does more than treat a disease. We care for people living with cancer and strive to meet their physical, mental and emotional needs. Through comprehensive programs and services, we support our patients and those who care for them. For more information, visit www.suttercancer.org

Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, is affiliated with Sutter Health, a not-for-profit, community based health system located throughout Northern California. For more information on Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, visit www.suttermedicalcenter.org

For more information about the Commission on Cancer, visit our Web site at www.facs.org/cancer/index.html

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Contact
Sutter Health Sacramento Sierra Region
Communications Department
Sutter Medical Center Sacramento
2800 L Street
Sacramento, CA 95816
Main number: (916) 454-6570