HATTIESBURG, Miss. – (June 30, 2023) The Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) has granted Three-Year Accreditation to the cancer program at the Forrest General Cancer Center. To earn voluntary CoC accreditation, a cancer program must meet 34 CoC quality care standards with each compliance item meeting all requirements, be evaluated every three years through a survey process, and maintain levels of excellence in the delivery of comprehensive patient-centered care. Forrest General’s Cancer Center is one of nine accredited cancer centers and facilities in Mississippi.
Because it is a CoC-accredited cancer center, the Forrest General Cancer Center 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.
“This accreditation lets patients know that our staff works extremely hard to do everything possible to help them in their fight against cancer,” said Millie Swan, Forrest Health vice president. “Three linear accelerators, which deliver radiation for patients in fewer treatments, help treat the high volume of cancer patients in our community more quickly. This helps enhance our quality of care standards as we are able to care for more patients more quickly and with fewer treatments.”
The CoC Accreditation Program provides the framework for the Forrest General Cancer Center to improve its quality of 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 Forrest General Cancer Center maintains a cancer registry, research and informatics, 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 in the United States and internationally. 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.
When cancer patients choose to seek care locally at a CoC-accredited cancer center, they are gaining access to comprehensive, state-of-the-art cancer care close to home.
The CoC provides the public with information on the resources, services, and cancer treatment experience for each CoC-accredited cancer program through the CoC Hospital Locator at https://www.facs.org/search/cancer-programs.
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
About Forrest General’s Cancer Center
Forrest General Hospital Cancer Center ranks among the largest and most sophisticated cancer treatment centers in South Mississippi. It offers a place where patients can receive advanced care in a beautiful, compassionate environment. Forrest General operates the only comprehensive community Cancer Center in the 19-county service area, and is accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. The center features the services of a multidisciplinary team led by medical oncologists/hematologists and radiation oncologists, who provide high quality medical care in a continuum of settings. In addition to medical and radiation oncologists, a complete range of physician specialists provide expertise in diagnoses, surgical removal, disease management and reconstructive procedures.
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