Inova Alexandria Hospital has been awarded a three-year accreditation without contingency from the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons.
It is the highest status award by the commission and achieved by only 27 percent of the hospitals that apply nationwide. Inova Alexandria is the first community hospital in the region to receive this distinction.
"Inova Alexandria Hospital asked the commission to undertake this rigorous evaluation to prove to the community that we are committed to service excellence and providing the best and most comprehensive care for our patients," said Dr. Jane Grayson, radiation oncologist with the hospital's Cancer Center.
"It's a voluntary application process meant for cancer programs to prove they are among the best in the nation," she emphasized. The commission judges hospitals based on a continuum of care from prevention and early diagnosis, to treatment, and rehabilitation.
Inova Alexandria Hospital's Cancer Center recently expanded to provide an additional area for radiation treatment. Patients take part in the Center's Life with Cancer program to learn more about stress management, a Food and Friends program to learn the nutritional needs of oncology patients, and support programs for patients.
Inova Alexandria Hospital was one of the first hospitals to offer radioactive seed implants for treating prostate cancer. Since that program commenced in 1994, the hospital has treated 675 prostate seed implant patients.