Singing River Health System's Regional Cancer Center is making strides in its treatment of cancer -- expanding facilities, buying top-of-the-line equipment and getting top marks for its patient registry.
For the second year in a row it has received gold certification from the Mississippi Cancer Registry for registry work at Singing River and Ocean Springs hospitals.
The registry is a system of tracking cancer patients from diagnosis and treatment through the rest of their lives. It's required for a cancer center to be accredited, with the ultimate goal being to make sure a patient gets the most thorough treatment.
But the information gathered also goes into a national database to help develop programs for earlier detection and prevention and to provide a foundation for future cancer research.
This tracking process ensures patients are screened, see the appropriate doctors, have timely follow-ups on biopsies and receive treatment that is the standard of care, said Chris Holland, vice president of cancer services at Singing River.
He said achieving the gold certification for the center's registry is a testament to care and a lot of behind-the-scenes work. Singing River's registry director is Beverly Steege.
Singing River and Memorial Hospital at Gulfport are the two accredited cancer centers in South Mississippi. Memorial's registry has a gold certification as well.
To reach gold, a cancer registry must track 95 percent of the patients diagnosed with cancer in the area. Singing River's center tracks 4,500 active cases, having added 675 this year.
"Basically, it's a good indication of quality," Holland said. "The gold standard means that we've done something really special."
In the 15 years Singing River Hospital has housed the Regional Cancer Center, the center has almost doubled in size. In 2004 it expanded to take up an entire wing of the hospital.
It has five doctors on staff and 60 employees altogether. It draws patients from Jackson, George and eastern Harrison counties and the Grand Bay area of Alabama.
The employees include technicians, nurses, social workers, dietitians, financial counselors, clerical staff and an eight-person research department in its sixth year of National Cancer Institute funding.
The first five years and $5 million for the research program was building infrastructure. Now it's moving into research and anticipating the next term of funding, which is expected to be about $300,000 a year, Holland said.
Patients treated at the center are 90 percent outpatient, he said. The center offers radiation and chemotherapy under one roof at Singing River in Pascagoula, only chemotherapy in the clinic at Ocean Springs.
The radiation program stepped up with the purchase of a $3 million Varian Trilogy, a machine that makes delivery of radiation extremely precise, within a half-millimeter of the tumor it's radiating.
The addition of CT scanners also makes treatment more accurate and effective.
Holland said before the hospital system opened the Cancer Center there was no comprehensive program and most of Jackson County's cancer patients had to leave the area for treatment.
"Now we see 100 patients a day," he said, including follow-up visits. The center sees 600 to 700 new patients a year.
In 2002 the center had 10,000 patient visits. By 2007 it had grown to about 20,000, a number that held firm for 2008.
He said the center treats all kinds of cancers, the most common being breast and lung. It works with major state and national cancer centers but does not handle bone-marrow transplants.
"Otherwise, we try to do everything our community needs," Holland said. "Some people may come in and get a shot, some might get eight hours of chemotherapy. It depends on the complexity of the disease and the regimen we're using." To see more of The Sun Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sunherald.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright (C) 2009, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.