St. Joseph Medical Center as a
Community Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Program:

St. Joseph Medical Center has once again, received a Three-Year Approval with Commendation from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (Coc). This approval -- the Gold Standard by which all cancer programs are measured. St. Joseph Medical Center is one of more than 1400 approved cancer programs. The goal of the multidisciplinary Commission on Cancer is to decrease morbidity and mortality caused by cancer through prevention, monitoring, and reporting of care, standard setting, and education. Hospitals, treatment centers, and other facilities are approved according to standards set by the Committee on Approvals of the Commission on Cancer (COC). The standards ensure that each approved program provides all patients with a full range of diagnostic, treatment, and supportive services either on-site at the facility or by referral.

Commission on Cancer- approved programs improve their quality of patient care by implementing multidisciplinary cancer programs that cover the following issues:

• prevention
• early diagnosis
• pretreatment evaluation
• staging
• optimal treatment
• rehabilitation
• surveillance for recurrent disease and multiple primary tumors
• psychosocial support
• end of life care