Cancer Center of Acadiana Earns Outstanding Achievement Award

When Cancer Center of Acadiana (CCA) at Lafayette General celebrated national accreditation with commendation in February, it became eligible to receive a prestigious award. CCA has now been named a recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award from American College of Surgeons (ACS) Commission on Cancer (CoC).

CCA was among a group of 27 accredited cancer programs throughout the United States to receive this installment of the award. Being an accredited cancer center requires CCA to promote patient-centered cancer care, including the delivery of genetic testing and counseling, the development of survivorship care plans, and mechanisms to address psychosocial distress and health care disparities and barriers.

Criteria for the award were based on surveys conducted from July 1 to December 31 in 2015. The purpose of this award is to increase awareness about high-quality, patient-centered care. In addition, the award is intended to:

• Recognize those cancer programs that achieve excellence meeting the CoC standards
• Motivate other cancer programs to work toward improving their level of quality cancer care
• Facilitate dialogue between award recipients and health care professionals at other cancer facilities for the purpose of sharing best practices
• Encourage honorees to serve as quality-care resources to other cancer programs

“This is a great accomplishment for our cancer program,” says Craig Ortego, Vice President of Cancer Services for Lafayette General Health. “These endorsements are important because we want people in Acadiana to know that the cancer care we provide is among the best in the country. With our seven CCA locations, you do not have to leave home to get top treatment for cancer.”

CCA opened its seventh location in Opelousas last year. Other centers are located at Mamou, Crowley, Abbeville and New Iberia plus a second Lafayette location at University Hospital & Clinics. CCA staffs a multidisciplinary team of experienced professionals, including Medical Oncologists/Hematologists, experienced certified oncology nurses, Gynecological Oncologist, breast fellowship-trained Interventional Radiologists, oncology certified dietician, PhD-trained genetic counselor, patient educator, patient navigator and PhD-trained Psychologist.

“More and more, we’re finding that patients and their families want to know how the health care institutions in their communities compare with one another,” said Daniel P. McKellar, MD, FACS, Chair of the CoC. “They want access to information in terms of who’s providing the best quality of care, and they want to know about overall patient outcomes. Through this recognition program, I’d like to think we’re playing a small, but vital role, in helping them make informed decisions on their cancer care.”

The 27 award-winning, cancer care programs represent approximately 11 percent of programs surveyed July 1–December 31 by the CoC in 2015. “These 27 cancer programs currently represent the best of the best when it comes to cancer care,” added Dr. McKellar. “Each of these facilities is not just meeting nationally recognized standards for the delivery of quality cancer care, they are exceeding them.”

A total of 50 cancer care programs earned the 2015 award.