Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center Earns Major Designations

Only Florida hospital to win the Commission on Cancer Outstanding Achievement Award three times in a row, and the first and only radiation oncology program to be accredited in South Florida   

MIAMI BEACH, Fla., March 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center has received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (CoC).  Mount Sinai is the only Florida hospital to receive this recognition three times in a row, and one of only 23 out of 1,500 CoC-accredited centers nationwide to receive the Outstanding Achievement Award three consecutive times. The CoC created the Outstanding Achievement Award to recognize programs that strive for excellence in providing quality cancer care. Mount Sinai successfully completed an on-site survey and received a three-year Approval with Commendation.

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Recognizing that cancer is a complex group of diseases, the CoC Cancer Program Standards promote consultation among surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, diagnostic radiologists, pathologists, and other cancer specialists. This multidisciplinary approach results in improved patient care. In addition, CoC-accredited cancer programs focus on prevention, early diagnosis, pre-treatment evaluation, staging, optimal treatment, rehabilitation, surveillance for recurrent disease, support services, and end-of-life care.

The Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center is also the first and only radiation oncology program in South Florida to earn accreditation from the American College of Radiology (ACR) and The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). The ACR-ASTRO seal of accreditation represents the highest level of quality and patient safety. Mount Sinai's Radiation Oncology programs on both the Mount Sinai Miami Beach and Aventura campuses successfully completed a rigorous application and evaluation process for this accreditation.

Radiation oncology (radiation therapy) is the careful use of high-energy radiation to treat cancer. A radiation oncologist may use radiation to cure cancer or to relieve a cancer patient's pain. The ACR-ASTRO accreditation is awarded only to facilities meeting specific practice guidelines and technical standards developed by ACR and ASTRO after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified radiation oncologists and medical physicists who are experts in the field.

The ACR is a national professional organization serving more than 34,000 diagnostic/interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians, and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services. ASTRO is a professional organization serving more than 10,000 radiation oncologists, medical physicists and other health care professionals involved in the treatment of cancer patients.

These accomplishments are added to the achievement of the Lila and Harold Menowitz Comprehensive Breast Center at Mount Sinai, which is accredited by the American College of Radiology as a Breast Center of Excellence and has full accreditation by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers.

Contact:
Joanna Palmer
305-674-2589
[email protected]

SOURCE Mount Sinai Medical Center