Bridgeport Hospital earns Outstanding Achievement Award from American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer

BRIDGEPORT, CT (Nov. 20, 2017) – Bridgeport Hospital is one of only 16 U.S. accredited cancer programs to receive a 2017 Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Commission on Cancer (CoC) for surveys performed Jan. 1 - June 30, 2017. The program was integrated with Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center during the past year.

“Bridgeport Hospital has long had an outstanding reputation for high quality cancer care and has maintained CoC accreditation since 1933,” said Scott Thornton, MD, physician liaison to the hospital’s multidisciplinary Cancer Committee. “This latest achievement is the strong acknowledgement of years of hard work and dedication on the part of physicians, nurses and others who provide care to our cancer patients and their families.” The award recognizes cancer programs that achieve excellence in complying with CoC standards and providing the highest quality care to cancer patients.

The award also encourages cancer programs to raise the bar on quality cancer care, with the ultimate goal of increasing awareness about high quality, patient-centered care. In addition, the award helps promote dialogue among providers and share best practices.

Bridgeport Hospital’s cancer program was evaluated on 34 program standards within five cancer program activity areas: program management, clinical services, continuum of care services, patient outcomes and data quality. The cancer program was also evaluated on seven commendation standards. To be eligible, all award recipients needed commendation ratings in all seven standards, in addition to receiving a compliance rating for each of the 27 other standards.

“I could not be happier that we received gold award status, the highest level of recognition, as well as an Outstanding Achievement Award,” which was an important goal of mine,” said Peg Parniawski, RN, the nursing director who oversaw cancer services at Bridgeport Hospital until the recent service line consolidation with Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center. “We have integrated two superb cancer programs under the Smilow banner.”

“Cancer care in the Bridgeport Hospital service area continues to improve through its integration with Smilow Cancer Hospital and the Yale Cancer Center,” said medical oncologist Jerry Malefatto, MD, another physician leader of the Cancer Committee “For example, Smilow Cancer Hospital outpatient care centers were established in Fairfield and Trumbull in 2014, giving patients access to a higher level and broader range of cancer services, new facilities, and access to more innovative therapeutic clinical trials.”