South Nassau’s Center for Breast Health Earns National Accreditation

Oceanside, NY, September 06, 2013 --(PR.com)-- The American College of Surgeons National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) has granted a full, three-year accreditation to the Center for Breast Health at South Nassau Communities Hospital’s Gertrude & Louis Feil Cancer Center.

The center earned the accreditation following a rigorous on-site evaluation to demonstrate that it is in complete compliance with standards established by the NAPBC for treating women who are diagnosed with breast disease. The standards include proficiency in the areas of center leadership, clinical management, research, community outreach, professional education and quality improvement.

“The prestigious accreditation is a direct result of the center’s team of dedicated, compassionate, expert physicians, nurses, allied staff and administrators and the leadership of Dr. Christine Hodyl (South Nassau’s director of breast health services),” said Rajiv Datta, MD, medical director of the Gertrude & Louis Feil Cancer Center. “NAPBC accreditation confirms our commitment to provide our patients every significant advantage in their battle against breast disease.”

NAPBC accreditation affirms 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;
- And, most importantly, quality breast care that is close to home.

The NAPBC is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to the improvement of the quality of care and monitoring of outcomes of patients with diseases of the breast. This mission is pursued through standard-setting, scientific validation, and patient and professional education. Its board membership includes professionals from 20 national organizations that reflect the full spectrum of breast care.

South Nassau’s Center for Breast Health offers a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary breast care program, with a full spectrum of clinical and support services, from screening and diagnosis to treatment and counseling. Early detection is the focus of South Nassau’s Complete Women’s Imaging (CWI), PC, which is a designated Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology. Led by George Autz, MD, medical director and director of breast MRI services, and Abraham Port, MD, medical director and director of breast imaging, CWI uses an array of state-of-the-art diagnostic technologies, including digital mammography, high resolution ultrasound and MRI of the breast, to detect breast disease in its earliest stage. Minimally invasive procedures can detect breast cancer long before it becomes a serious threat to your health and wellness.

If a tumor or abnormality is detected, the center offers the most advanced treatments for breast cancer and breast health complications and uses targeted surgical techniques that aim to preserve as much of the healthy breast and surrounding areas as possible. This includes Contura™ multi-channel and Mammosite® single channel balloon brachytherapy techniques, which utilize a balloon catheter to deliver highly localized radiation to the lumpectomy bed; breast-conserving surgery (commonly known as lumpectomy), in which only the tumor or abnormality is removed from the breast; or mastectomy, an operation in which the whole breast is removed. For invasive breast cancer, these procedures may be accompanied by a sentinel lymph node biopsy or axillary lymph node dissection if needed.

Oncoplastic surgical techniques are also offered. Oncoplasty combines surgical cancer removal with plastic surgery techniques to produce a superior cosmetic end result. Recommendations for whole-body or "systemic" treatments, such as hormonal therapy, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of two of the three therapies, may follow either surgical approach. If early-stage breast cancer is present, sentinel lymph node biopsy is used as an alternative to traditional lymph node dissection.

Treating approximately 1,500 patients annually, South Nassau’s Gertrude & Louis Feil Cancer Center has evolved into one of the Northeast corridor’s premiere providers of compassionate advanced cancer care. The center is the only one on Long Island that is equipped with three of the most advanced and effective technologies used to treat and eradicate cancer: the Varian Novalis Tx™, da Vinci® Surgical System and Gamma Knife® Perfexion.

In addition to its Center for Breast Health, South Nassau’s Gertrude & Louis Feil Cancer Center incorporates the following specialty cancer care services:
- GYN Oncology Department (Valley Stream)
- Long Island Gamma Knife® Center (Oceanside)
- Center for Prostate Health Program (Oceanside)
- Center for Lung Health (Oceanside/Valley Stream)
- Radiation Oncology Department (Oceanside and Valley Stream)
- Surgical Oncology Department (Oceanside and Valley Stream)
- Complete Women’s Imaging Center at South Nassau (Oceanside)
- PET/CT Service (Oceanside)