Shore Regional Cancer Center’s Requard Radiation Oncology Center has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation in radiation oncology as the result of a recent review by the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Radiation oncology (radiation therapy) is the use of high-energy radiation to treat cancer.

“Our staff works very diligently to provide the best and most effective radiation treatment possible for our patients,” says Phillip Sawyer, MS, Lead Medical Physicist for the Requard Radiation Oncology Center. “This accreditation is the result of our staff’s ongoing commitment to patient safety and quality control every day.”

The ACR-ASTRO seal of accreditation represents the highest level of quality and patient safety. It is awarded only to facilities meeting specific practice guidelines and technical standards developed by ACR and ASTRO after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified radiation oncologists and medical physicists who are experts in the field. Patient care and treatment, patient safety, personnel qualifications, adequacy of facility equipment, quality control procedures and quality assurance programs are assessed. The findings are reported to the ACR-ASTRO Committee on Radiation Oncology Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report they can use for continuous practice improvement.

The ACR is a national professional organization serving more than 34,000 diagnostic/interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians, and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services. ASTRO is a professional organization serving more than 10,000 radiation oncologists, medical physicists and other health care professionals involved in the treatment of cancer patients.

In photo: Members of the Shore Regional Cancer Center radiation team (left to right) are Robin Ford, MS, RN, radiation oncology nurse; Vicky Dunlap, RTT, radiation oncology technical coordinator; Paula Larrimore, CMD, senior dosimetrist; Rich Seier, MS, DABR, medical physicist; Phillip Sawyer, MS, lead medical physicist; John Mastandrea, MD, radiation oncologist and medical director of the Requard Radiation Oncology Center; and Brian Leutner, RT (R) (T), MBA , Director of Oncology Services for Shore Health System.