The Sarah Cannon Cancer Center at Skyline

2004 Sarah Cannon Cancer Center Annual Report	The Sarah Cannon Cancer Center
Katrina Lewis' Story	2005 Celebration of Life
Cancer Resources	The Colossol Colon Comes To Tennessee
HealthWise - April-May Issue 2004	Learn More About Cancer Center Accreditation

SKYLINE MEDICAL CENTER EARNS ACCREDITATION
Skyline Medical Center’s cancer program has received accreditation from The Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons.  The ACS awards certification to programs after a voluntary inspection of hospital clinical practices, including diagnosis and treatment, as well as educational offerings for community residents and healthcare professionals.

“We are honored that our oncology program at The Sarah Cannon Cancer Center at Skyline has received the ACS Recognition assuring that our program has met the national standards for cancer care,” said Robert Klein, Chief Executive Officer at Skyline Medical Center.  “Certification is a voluntary process which encourages cancer programs like ours to develop and provide quality services, educational programs and prevention programs. The process gives professionals a national standard by which to measure the quality of services they provide.”

Mr. Klein commended General Surgeon Gregory Neal, M.D., who led the accreditation process as the ACS-appointed Cancer Liaison Physician at Skyline.

According to Dr. Neal: “The visiting physician was very impressed with our cancer center report and the facility, which resulted in our receiving a three-year accreditation as a Cancer Treatment Center with no deficiencies noted,” he said.  “Members of the Cancer Committee were instrumental in our success, including Kathy Crawford, Joy McCloud and Dr. My Nguyen, Radiation Oncologist.”

In addition to Dr. Neal and Dr. Nguyen, other physicians who serve on the Cancer Committee include:  Pain Management Specialist Dr. Ken Bartholomew, Pathologist Dr. Jere Baxter, Urologist Dr. Christopher Hill, Oncologist Dr. Michel Kuzur, Oncologist Dr. William Liggett, Oncologist Dr. Fernando Miranda, ENT Specialist Dr. Matthew Speyer, Surgeon Dr. Thomas Taylor, and Radiologist Dr. Brett Thorstad.

Established by the American College of Surgeons in 1932, the Approvals Program sets standards for cancer programs and reviews the programs to make sure they conform to those standards. Recognizing that cancer is a complex group of diseases, the program promotes consultation among surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, diagnostic radiologists, pathologists, and other cancer specialists. This multidisciplinary cooperation results in improved patient care. Learn more about the accreditation.

Skyline provides a comprehensive range of services for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer.  Located at 3441 Dickerson Pike on the highest point in Davidson County, Skyline Medical Center is Middle Tennessee’s newest hospital.  An ultra-modern facility, featuring all private patient rooms, the facility opened in the fall of 2000 as a replacement hospital for Nashville Memorial Hospital.  Offering advanced medical capabilities, Skyline Medical Center is particularly known for its neurosurgery, neurology, oncology, orthopaedics, and emergency services.  Its 59-acre campus is also home to the 200,000 square-foot Skyline Medical Plaza, which provides convenient access to physician offices and a pharmacy.

A Time For Heros
Remember the beautiful story about Skyline's Sarah Cannon Cancer Center's "Celebration of Life" award recipient, Ketrina Lewis? We featured her in our Summer 2003 issue of HealthWISE. Ketrina's story is no less beautiful now, although she is now celebrating life in heaven, having passed away in February 2004 after many years of fighting cancer. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family as we remember her selfless acts of reaching out and helping others while she herself was suffering.

Radiofrequency Albation (RFA) Treatment
Help is available for patients with inoperable liver tumors.  Radiofrequency ablation (RFA), a procedure that is being performed at Skyline Medical Center, delivers radiofrequency or electrical energy into the tumor tissue through an array of thin electrodes that heat and destroy the targeted tissue. 

RFA provides an effective treatment for patients who previously had few options available to address liver tumors that could not be surgically removed, according to Dan Wunder, M.D., an interventional radiologist who performs the procedure at Skyline.  Clinical studies show that RFA increases survival rates for patients who have primary or mestastic liver cancer and are not candidates for surgical resection.

“While surgical removal of liver cancer tumors is the most effective treatment for liver cancers, many patients cannot have the surgery due to the size or location of the tumor or because of other health factors,” Dr. Wunder said.  “RFA offers the benefit of removing lesions with great accuracy and at the same time reducing the risks and side effects associated with other options.  It vastly improves the quality of life for these patients.”

This minimally invasive treatment option has few side effects or complications.  It can be performed in an outpatient setting and usually requires only local anesthesia.  Patients typically go home the same day with a small bandage over the entry site. 

The RFA system used at Skyline was developed by RITA Medical Systems, Inc.