Cabell Huntington Hospital Earns Re-Accreditation from Commission on Cancer

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

The Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), has granted three-year re-accreditation to the Edwards Comprehensive Cancer Center (ECCC) program at Cabell Huntington Hospital (CHH), a member of Mountain Health Network (MHN). To earn voluntary CoC accreditation, a cancer program must meet 34 CoC quality care standards, be evaluated every three years through a survey process, and maintain levels of excellence in the delivery of comprehensive patient-centered care.

As a CoC-accredited cancer center, the ECCC cancer program takes a multidisciplinary approach to treating cancer as a complex group of diseases that requires consultation among surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, diagnostic radiologists, pathologists, and other cancer specialists. This multidisciplinary partnership results in improved patient care.

“We are excited to share the news of our continued accreditation with this esteemed organization,” said Mary Legenza, MD, cancer physician liaison, ECCC. “This is a result of hard work on all levels of our cancer center to meet the CoC’s rigorous standards. Most importantly, this shows the ECCC is dedicated to improving cancer survival and quality of life for all cancer patients.”

“At the ECCC, we are dedicated to advancing patient care through our highly-trained cancer physicians in breast oncology, gynecologic oncology, pediatric oncology, radiation oncology, urologic oncology and general cancer care,” said James Jensen, MD, FACS, medical director, ECCC, and chair, Department of Oncology, Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. “This re-accreditation demonstrates that dedication of our high-quality providers within each of these specialties.”

The CoC Accreditation Program provides the framework for the ECCC to continue its quality patient care through various cancer-related programs that focus on the full spectrum of cancer care including prevention, early diagnosis, cancer staging, optimal treatment, rehabilitation, life-long follow-up for recurrent disease and end-of-life care. When patients receive care at a CoC facility, they also have access to information on clinical trials and new treatments, genetic counseling, and patient-centered services, including psycho-social support, a patient navigation process, and a survivorship care plan that documents the care each patient receives and seeks to improve cancer survivors’ quality of life.

Like all CoC-accredited facilities, the ECCC maintains a cancer registry and contributes data to the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB), a joint program of the CoC and American Cancer Society. This nationwide oncology outcomes database is the largest clinical disease registry in the world. Data on all types of cancer are tracked and analyzed through the NCDB and used to explore trends in cancer care. CoC-accredited cancer centers, in turn, have access to information derived from this type of data analysis, which is used to create national, regional, and state benchmark reports. These reports help CoC facilities with their quality improvement efforts.

The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 1.7 million cases of cancer will be diagnosed in 2022. There are currently more than 1,500 CoC-accredited cancer programs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. CoC-accredited facilities diagnose and/or treat more than 70 percent of all newly diagnosed patients with cancer.

For more information about ECCC, visit www.edwardsccc.org.

About the Commission on Cancer
Established in 1922 by the American College of Surgeons, the CoC is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to improving patient outcomes and quality of life for cancer patients through standard-setting, prevention, research, education, and the monitoring of comprehensive, quality care. Its membership includes Fellows of the American College of Surgeons. For more information, visit www.facs.org/cancer.