Peter Schorsch
Tampa General Hospital’s (TGH) Cancer Institute earned a coveted three-year accreditation from the Commission of Cancer (CoC).
The CoC is a group of professional organizations committed to improving survival and quality of life for patients with cancer by establishing and raising standards.
To earn the approval, TGH’s Cancer Institute took part in a rigorous review process to examine TGH’s performance on CoC’s 34 quality care standards, a focus on structure, process, and outcomes and aim to address the full range of cancer — from prevention to survivorship and end-of-life care — while also addressing survival and quality of life.
The accreditation signifies that TGH takes a multidisciplinary approach to supplying high-quality, patient-centered cancer care, and demonstrates a commitment to improving patient outcomes and quality of life for all cancer patients.
Less than one-quarter of hospitals nationwide meet the CoC standards.
“We set out to build a Cancer Institute of the future that excels in cancer research, clinical investigations, prevention, and control, and we have spent the past several years devoting significant energy and resources and acquiring the brightest talent to bring that vision to life,” said John Couris, president and CEO of TGH. “Our team is tremendously proud of this accreditation, which is a testament to the unparalleled expertise and quality of care we offer our patients and community across the continuum of cancer care services.”
The TGH Cancer Institute partners with patients to manage all aspects of their cancer care journey, from diagnosis to survivorship and everything in between. This collaborative approach to cancer care ensures patients feel supported through what can often be an overwhelming process and offers them comfort in knowing that there is continuity in their care every step of the way.
Through the CoC Accreditation Program, which was set up by the American College of Surgeons, TGH’s Cancer Institute gains access to data, networks, and best practices that can further advance the high-quality cancer patient care TGH is known for.
“The TGH Cancer Institute is dedicated to providing the most advanced testing, next-generation research, therapies and treatment, and patient care because we recognize the importance of treating the whole person, not the condition. When fighting cancer, every decision impacts patients’ lives and every advantage needs to be identified,” said Thomas Rutherford, M.D., medical director of the TGH Cancer Institute and professor and director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.
In recent years, the TGH Cancer Institute has expanded to more locations, increasing the community’s access to world-class, innovative cancer care. Specially trained physicians staff each location.
TGH also recently launched the TGH/USF Health Precision Medicine Biorepository, which collects, catalogs and stores samples of biological material for medical research. The biorepository holds donated specimens from patients that researchers, physicians, and scientists can access for scientific study, creating new opportunities to advance research in cancer tumor sequencing and precision medicine.
In addition, TGH is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.
