Grady Hospital's Avon Breast Center Earns National Accreditation

/PRNewswire/ -- Grady's Avon Foundation Comprehensive Breast Center has been granted a full accreditation designation by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), a program administered by the American College of Surgeons. According to the NAPBC, accreditation is granted only to those centers that have voluntarily committed to provide the highest level of breast care and undergo a rigorous evaluation and review of their performance. During the survey process, the center must demonstrate compliance with standards established by the NAPBC for treating women who are diagnosed with the full spectrum of breast disease. The standards include proficiency in the areas of: center leadership, clinical management, research, community outreach, professional education, and quality improvement. A breast center that achieves NAPBC accreditation has demonstrated a firm commitment to offer its patients every significant advantage in their battle against breast disease.

The Avon Foundation Comprehensive Breast Center is a key component of the Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence at Grady Health System. The Center is a multi-disciplinary breast care program, offering a full spectrum of clinical and support services, from screening and diagnosis to treatment and survivor care. The patient care team, comprised of Emory & Morehouse physicians and Grady personnel, include specialists in medical, radiation and surgical oncology, breast imaging, pathology, nursing, pharmacy, social work, mental health services, nutrition, community outreach and navigation, palliative care and other specialties. The Center has treated more than 1,000 newly diagnosed women since opening in 2003 and has increased its mammography services by more than 60 percent.

"The team at the Avon Breast Center works tirelessly to ensure our patients obtain the best possible care and services," said Sheryl Gabram, MD, director, Avon Comprehensive Breast Center at Grady and professor of surgery, Emory University School of Medicine. "It is because of their dedication and hard work the Center was awarded this recognition. The accreditation will benefit our patients, our community and our collaborative efforts in the future."

The American Cancer Society estimates that 5,370 women in Georgia were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009. Receiving care at an NAPBC-accredited center ensures that a patient will have access to:

-- Comprehensive care, including a full range of state-of-the-art
services
-- A multidisciplinary team approach to coordinate the best treatment
options
-- Information about ongoing clinical trials and new treatment options
-- Quality breast health care close to home.


"The Avon Breast Center at Grady provides cutting edge care and as a result has decreased breast cancer outcome disparities for women treated at Grady," Gabram added. "It is because of the extensive support from The Avon Foundation that we are able to accomplish this and make a significant difference in the lives of thousands of women."

About Grady Health System

Grady Health System is one of the largest public health systems in the United States. Grady consists of the 953-bed Grady Memorial Hospital, nine neighborhood health centers, Crestview Health & Rehabilitation Center - and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding, which is operated as a Children's affiliate.

With its nationally acclaimed Emergency Care Center and Burn Unit, Grady Health System has the only level I trauma center in the region and serves as the ambulance provider for the city of Atlanta. The state's only Poison Center is housed at Grady, as well.

The Diabetes Detection & Control Center, Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence, Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center, Primary Stroke Center and Avon Foundation Comprehensive Breast Center are also notable components of the health system. Moreover, Grady's Infectious Disease Program was named one of the top three HIV/AIDS outpatient clinics in the country.

Other exceptional medical services include Grady's Regional Perinatal Center and its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Primary Care Center, a dedicated 60 Plus service line for older adults, Teen Services, the Rape Crisis Center and a 24-hour Advice Nurse Line.

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Grady Hospital Awarded Medal of Honor for Organ Donor Program

Grady Health System today announced the receipt of a National Medal of Honor from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for saving lives through organ donation in 2009. More than 104,000 are people listed for an organ transplant nationwide; in Georgia close to 3,000 people are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant. For the third year in a row, Grady received this special recognition for achieving and sustaining national organ donation goals.

Grady works closely with LifeLink of Georgia, a non-profit community service organization dedicated to the recovery of life-saving and life-enhancing organs and tissue for transplantation therapy, to develop best practices for sensitively encouraging organ donation. In the past four years, Grady has seen continued success in donation rates. Because of this, the hospital has achieved a donation rate of 75 percent or more of eligible donors during a 22-month award period (ending in April 2009). The conversion rate is the number of successful donors divided by the number of eligible donors.

“When we joined the collaborative in 2003, our conversion rate was about 38 percent,” said Gaynell Miller, vice president of Patient Care Services and Grady’s organ donation collaborative champion. “By implementing best practices, we met the national goal of 75% conversion rate in 2006 and sustained it for the following year which made us eligible for our first award in 2007. Since then we have been able to exceed and sustain the national organ donor conversion rate and, in so doing, have helped save countless lives. We are very proud to be receiving an award for the 3rd year in a row, because this is validation that we have respected the patients’ and families’ rights to have this end of life choice and participated in making more organs available for those in need.”

Every day, about 77 people get a transplant that gives them a second chance, but nearly 19 others die because then they did not. Chances of getting a transplant increase if a donor and recipient share the same racial and ethnic backgrounds, but more than half of the people on the waiting list for a donated organ are racial or ethnic minorities. Grady’s organ donation program includes a special focus on helping families understand the donation process and deal with the difficult questions that may come up, including religious, ethnic and medical concerns.

For information about the National Learning Congress and the Medal of Honor visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at www.organdonor.gov. To learn more about organ and tissue donation in Georgia visit LifeLink at www.lifelinkfound.org/ga and to designate your decision to be an organ, tissue and eye donor sign-up on Donate Life Georgia’s Organ and Tissue Donor Registry at www.donatelifegeorgia.org or call 1-866-57-SHARE (74273).

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