Hospital cancer program earns gold-standard accreditation

July 11, 2014 By Hospital cancer program earns gold-standard accreditation

New Britain [July 11 2014] - The cancer program at The Hospital of Central Connecticut (HOCC), part of the Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute, has earned a three-year accreditation with commendations from the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons. 

The commission recently spent several weeks carefully analyzing and reviewing all aspects of the hospital’s cancer program before concluding that it exceeded standards in several areas. 

The commission awarded the HOCC cancer program a gold-level accreditation after issuing commendations to seven of the categories that were reviewed. In particular, the commission praised the program’s outstanding work in the areas of: 
• Clinical trials accrual 
• Cancer registrar education 
• Public reporting of outcomes 
• College of American Pathologists protocols 
• Nursing care 
• Two categories of data quality and accuracy 

Peter Byeff, MD, medical director of the HOCC cancer center, said the program strives to excel in establishing a consistently superior standard of care for patients. 

“We are enormously pleased to be recognized in this way,” Byeff said. “Our emphasis on a multidisciplinary team approach means that we have highly skilled and dedicated professionals contributing to all facets of care, from research to treatment to post-treatment.” 

Donna Handley, vice president of operations for the HHC Cancer Institute, said the HOCC program deserves to be recognized for excellence. 

“We are extremely proud of the outstanding work being done by the cancer care team at HOCC,” Handley said. “Their work reflects so positively on our Institute and our commitment to bringing the very best care to patients.” 

To earn its voluntary accreditation, the HOCC cancer program had to meet or exceed 34 quality care standards while being evaluated every three years through a survey process and maintaining levels of excellence in the delivery of comprehensive patient-centered care. Three-Year Accreditation with Commendation is only awarded to a facility that exceeds standard requirements at the time of its triennial survey. 

The Hospital of Central Connecticut (HOCC) is a 414-bed, 32-bassinet acute care teaching hospital with two campuses, New Britain General and Bradley Memorial in Southington. A member of Hartford HealthCare, HOCC services include emergency, inpatient, surgery, laboratory, outpatient, and radiology. Among specialty areas are cardiovascular care, metabolic health, obstetrics, oncology, orthopedics, and psychiatry/behavioral health. For more information, please visit www.thocc.org; for a physician referral, call 1-800-321-6244.