News Release

UPMC NORTHWEST CANCER CARE PROGRAM
EARNS REAPPROVAL
Availability of clinical trials, review nurse help produce hospital's best rating ever from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer

Feb. 24, 2004 — After receiving its highest rating ever on a survey of its cancer care program, UPMC Northwest has earned reapproval from the American College of Surgeons (ACOS) Commission on Cancer as a Comprehensive Community Cancer Center. The approval means the ACOS recognizes UPMC Northwest as a center of cancer care excellence that provides a full range of services for diagnosing and treating cancer.

The ACOS found no deficiencies during its inspection of UPMC Northwest’s cancer care services and gave the hospital an overall rating of 1, the highest of five ratings the organization gives. The top rating overall resulted from maximum scores in every category that the survey evaluated, including program management and administration, clinical management, inpatient and outpatient care, support services, research, quality management and improvement, cancer data management, public education and awareness activities, and staff education.

UPMC Northwest chief executive officer Neil Todhunter says the reapproval “is a tribute to the exceptional performance of our cancer care staff and the quality of the care they provide. The doctors, nurses, and many others who meet the needs of our cancer patients do a great job, and it shows in the ratings we received in this survey. This is a great achievement for our cancer care program.”

In granting reapproval, the ACOS specifically cited two key elements of UPMC Northwest’s cancer care program: the availability of clinical trials that evaluate new methods of screening, diagnosing and treating cancer, and the presence of clinical review nurse Linda Warren, RN, who devotes her time exclusively to managing the hospital’s involvement in medical research studies.

UPMC Northwest currently is involved in 15 clinical trials that are evaluating experimental anti-cancer drugs and other new approaches to preventing and treating cancer, including the National Lung Screening Trial (that is seeking to determine whether screening with a chest x-ray or CT scan can reduce deaths from lung cancer), the Mammosite RTS Clinical Study (that is comparing the effectiveness of UPMC Northwest’s Mammosite Radiation Therapy System with conventional radiation therapy for the treatment of breast cancer), and the STAR Trial (that is comparing the effectiveness of two breast cancer prevention drugs).

The driving force behind the hospital’s participation in these studies is UPMC Northwest’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB searches out, evaluates, and approves UPMC Northwest’s involvement in clinical trials so consenting patients might benefit from promising experimental interventions as soon as possible, according to Doug Frankenburg, vice president of clinical services, who is UPMC Northwest’s IRB chairman.

Another vital component of UPMC Northwest’s cancer care program is its cancer registry that collects and reports detailed information about the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. The registry’s purpose is to help prevent and control cancer, according to Connie Hofmeister, certified tumor registrar who oversees this important function.

Frankenburg says UPMC Northwest’s reapproval from the ACOS reaffirms the hospital as a center of cancer care excellence that patients can trust. “We have experienced physicians, nurses, technical and support staff, and other medical and surgical specialists, a team approach to care, advanced diagnostic and treatment capabilities, and clinical trials that give patients access to promising new treatments,” he says. “The question a family can ask is ‘does UPMC Northwest have everything necessary to treat my loved one,’ and the answer is yes.”

UPMC Northwest has been an ACOS-approved cancer center for 22 years including the past 12 years as a Comprehensive Community Cancer Center. It is the only area hospital to have achieved this mark of excellence. The hospital’s latest reapproval will extend through 2006.

UPMC Northwest also is accredited by the American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO). It is the only hospital in northwestern Pennsylvania – and one of a select group of hospitals statewide – to have achieved accreditation from both the ACOS and ACRO.