Community Medical Center is One of Only Three Hospitals in NJ to Earn this Accreditation
TOMS RIVER, NJ - March 21, 2023: The J. Phillip Citta Regional Cancer Center at Community Medical Center (CMC), an RWJBarnabas Health facility, has earned a three-year accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer (NAPRC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons. The cancer center is one of only three programs in New Jersey to achieve the recognition and one of 77 nationwide.
To achieve voluntary NAPRC accreditation, a rectal center must demonstrate compliance with the NAPRC standards addressing program management, clinical services, and quality improvement for patients. Centers are required to establish a multidisciplinary rectal cancer team that includes clinical representatives from surgery, pathology, radiology, radiation oncology, and medical oncology. Accreditation by the NAPRC is granted only to those programs that are committed to providing the best possible care to patients with rectal cancer.
Additionally, the CMC program met standards addressing the clinical services that the rectal cancer program provides, including Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA testing), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and Computerized Tomography (CT) imaging for cancer staging which allows patients to begin treatment within a defined timeframe. Rectal cancer programs accredited by the NAPRC undergo a site visit every three years.
“As part of our commitment to providing Community Medical Center patients with exceptional care, close to home, the NAPRC validates the high quality of cancer care we provide our community members,” says Patrick Ahearn, Chief Executive Officer, Community Medical Center. “I congratulate the talented team of radiation and medical oncologists, surgeons, radiologists, pathologists, nurses, and clinicians at the J. Phillip Citta Regional Cancer Center at CMC on achieving NAPRC accreditation. Their collaboration, along with Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center provides a comprehensive rectal cancer program we are proud to offer patients at CMC.”
“Earning NAPRC accreditation distinguishes the J. Phillip Citta Regional Cancer Center at Community Medical Center,” states Steven J. Lowry, MD, Program Director of the Rectal Cancer Program at the J. Phillip Citta Regional Cancer Center at Community Medical Center. “As one of the elite programs in the state, we have demonstrated a commitment to high-quality rectal cancer care through our multidisciplinary program, research-supported protocols, and performance measures.”
Over 85% of rectal cancer program surgical procedures at Community Medical Center are performed robotically. Community Medical Center is the only hospital in Ocean County accredited as a Center of Excellence in Robotic Surgery by the Surgical Review Corporation.
The J. Phillip Citta Regional Cancer Center at Community Medical Center has been accredited by the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons since 1986. In addition, the Breast Center is accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers, a program administered by the American College of Surgeons, and is the first accredited program in Ocean and Atlantic counties.