FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 3, 2007

Cancer services at Mercy Medical Center stand out among the best according to the Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons (ACoS). Program accreditation, which has been in place at Mercy since 1965, was recently extended for an additional three years, continuing the medical center’s designation as an approved comprehensive community cancer program.

In addition to the approval, Mercy’s cancer program received special commendation in several areas such as outreach, staff education and other “very impressive improvements” since the last survey.

The CoC approval process is a rigorous review of services where strict standards of care must be met. Approval by the CoC is given only to facilities dedicated to providing the highest quality cancer care for patients and their families.

As a CoC-approved program, patients and families facing cancer can expect access to a range of state-of-the-art technology and equipment; a multidisciplinary team approach to care; cancer-related education and support; a cancer registry which collects data on cancers and related treatment results; and ongoing monitoring and improvement of care.

“I’m very proud of our cancer services at Mercy and this report really highlights our quality program,” said Lynne Kinseth, director of the Cancer Center at Mercy. “We offer the latest in treatment options and, most important, our patients receive excellent care close to home.”