The rectal cancer programs at both Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center and Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospital have been awarded accreditation by the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer (NAPRC).
The NAPRC was developed through a collaboration between the OSTRiCh Consortium (Optimizing the Surgical Treatment of Rectal Cancer) and the Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons. The NAPRC’s goal is to ensure patients with rectal cancer receive appropriate care using a multidisciplinary approach.
“We are honored to earn this distinction for multiple Memorial Hermann campuses,” said Sandra Miller, Vice President of the Oncology Service Line at Memorial Hermann Health System. “The NAPRC emphasizes important factors such as program management, clinical services and quality improvement, so this distinction reassures that we are providing our patients with the highest quality of care possible. We pride ourselves in serving the community and we hope that this accreditation can spread to additional Memorial Hermann campuses in the future.”
Directors of the program include Dr. Erik Askenasy and Dr. Mark Pidala, who both serve as assistant professors in the Department of Surgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Houston and are colon and rectal surgeons affiliated with Memorial Hermann.
Accreditation by the NAPRC is granted only to those programs that are voluntarily committed to providing the best possible care to patients with rectal cancer. Each rectal cancer program must undergo a rigorous evaluation and review of its performance and compliance with NAPRC Standards.