VA Boston cancer program earns national accreditation

“We are delighted to be recognized with this national accreditation. We offer Veterans comprehensive cancer care and are the only VA facility in New England that provides radiation therapy on site,” said Vincent Ng, director of the VA Boston HCS.

More than 800 Veterans with a new cancer diagnosis are seen by the VA Boston HCS every year, and roughly 750 of those patients will receive some element of their care here.

The VA Boston cancer program takes a multidisciplinary approach to treating cancer that requires consultation among surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, diagnostic radiologists, pathologists, and other cancer specialists.  This multidisciplinary partnership improves patient care.  The Commission on Cancer accreditation demonstrates that VA Boston has the resources needed to support a cancer program, ensuring Veterans receive a high level of comprehensive, patient-centered care.

Additionally, VA Boston HCS has implemented several projects to enhance efficiency and patient experience, including decreasing wait times for administration of chemotherapy infusion for admitted patients and reducing the time between ordering consults for medical oncology and clinic appointments.

Like all CoC-accredited facilities, the VA Boston Healthcare System maintains a cancer registry and contributes data to the National Cancer Data Base, 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.

Photo caption: John Naughton, a medical physicist from the VA Boston Healthcare System’s radiation oncology department, points to an example of an individualized patient treatment plan, Nov. 19, 2021, at the Jamaica Plain VA Campus. Naughton’s department is one many that are part of VA Boston's recently accredited cancer program. (VA Boston HCS photo by Deirdre Salvas)

About the Commission on Cancer: When cancer patients choose to seek care locally at a CoC-accredited cancer center, they gain 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. This accreditation was established in 1922 by the American College of Surgeons and is a consortium of professional organizations. For more information about the American College of Surgeons, visit: www.facs.org/cancer.