One of our responsibilities as a Community Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Program, accredited by the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons, is to look retrospectively at the previous year to evaluate our success in meeting the goals we have set. It is also an opportunity to look forward to the coming year to ensure we stay on course with our program planning and clinical care delivery.
The fiscal year 2006-07 was another year full of milestones. On April 25, 2006, Mount Nittany Medical Center and Pennsylvania State University signed an affiliation agreement to expand our collaboration, partially based on the success of the Penn State Cancer Institute (PSCI). The American Cancer Society awarded Mount Nittany Medical Center two honors, its Award of Distinction and the Quality of Life Mission Award, at its regional meeting in October 2006. Mount Nittany Medical Center was honored for its unwavering support as the presenting sponsor for the Relays For Life of Centre County, which includes Bellefonte, Centre Hall and Penn State University. The Medical Center first partnered with our local American Cancer Society as the corporate sponsor 12 years ago, when Relay For Life began in Centre County. Mount Nittany Medical Center, through the leadership of Thomas J. Murray, continues our commitment.
The American Cancer Society also acknowledged the cancer program with the Quality of Life Mission Award. Aileen Galley, administrative director of the Cancer Program, received this award in recognition of her constant efforts to link the newly diagnosed cancer patients with ACS programs and services.
Two grants were awarded to the Cancer Program. The Pennsylvania Department of Health has funded Fox Chase Cancer Center to study the effect of patient navigation on knowledge and quality for cancer patients in an urban and rural setting, with the Medical Center chosen as the rural arm of the study. And the Medical Center participated with the Appalachian Cancer Network on the needs assessment of resources available to patients with colorectal cancer, funded by the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The Lance Armstrong Foundation selected Mount Nittany Medical Center as a host site to hold a focus group of central Pennsylvania cancer survivors to evaluate their development of resource materials for residents of Appalachia.
The Cancer Committee, while only required to meet quarterly, continues to meet each month (excluding May and September 2006) to further the goals defined during our Three Year Strategic Planning Retreat in February 2006.
This provides a partial listing of the Cancer Committee’s 2006 Goals & Accomplishments:
- Mount Nittany Medical Center expanded registry operations to support Penn State Cancer Institute founding members for data consolidation and research requests for data. A contract was signed with CHAMPS Management Services of Cleveland, Ohio, to serve as central repository for tying registry data together for Lehigh Valley Hospital & Health Network, Mount Nittany Medical Center and Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Operational details will continue to be defined into 2007 regarding how data will be transmitted. An advisory board has been created to determine data usage regarding patient care studies, the annual report for the Institute and research requests.