UT Health Northeast Cancer Facility Accredited

TYLER — The UT Health Northeast Cancer Treatment and Prevention Center has received a three-year accreditation with commendations from the Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons (ACoS). For member healthcare facilities, the CoC sets rigorous accreditation standards to ensure that cancer care is patient-centered, measured against national standards to improve outcomes, and also focused on prevention, research, and education, according to a news release. In addition to the initial accreditation, UT Health Northeast’s cancer program received three commendations. They include clinical trial accrual – recruiting patients into clinical trials, nursing credentials – all UT Health Cancer Center nurses are Oncology Certified Nurses (OCN), and cancer registrar education – cancer registries provide valuable data to improve treatment, research, and education.

“For a regional cancer center to achieve what is one of the gold standards of excellent cancer care is an achievement of which I am extremely proud,” said UT Health Northeast President Dr. Kirk A. Calhoun. “Especially since we’ve only been in this new facility on our campus for a little over three years. With technology that rivals or exceeds some of the biggest names in cancer care in the U.S., UT Health is on its way to becoming a destination for cancer patients.”

The UT Health Center for Cancer Treatment and Prevention opened its doors in November 2011. Tim Ochran, senior vice president and chief administrative officer for UT Health Northeast’s hospitals and clinics, directed the planning and design of the cancer center. Ochran’s focus from the very beginning was on the patients’ experience, according to the news release.“From the moment our patients arrive, they have access to valet parking and a short walk from check in to radiation, chemotherapy, and the exam rooms,” said Ochran. “Our goal is to provide our patients with not only advanced cancer care, but care that is convenient, personalized, and compassionate.”

“Cancer is a very difficult and complex group of diseases to treat,” explains Ochran. “As the region’s only university medical center and a healthcare institution associated with The University of Texas System, we have an advantage because our highly trained team is here all under one roof – our medical and radiation oncologists, surgeons, diagnostic radiologists, pathologists, and other cancer experts work together as a team at UT Health every day. We believe the quality of our program is reflected in the accreditation with commendations we received from the Commission on Cancer, and we are challenged now to achieve even more for our patients.”