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Baylor Plano cancer facility now a Sammons center
Photo courtesy of Baylor Plano -- The cancer center at Baylor Medical Center of Plano was recently renamed the Sammons Cancer Center at Plano. The hospital is the seventh in the Baylor system to receive the designation.
By Conner Hammett, chammett@starlocalnews.com
While it may not be immediately noticeable walking through the front door, things have been changing at Baylor Medical Center of Plano's cancer center.
As of Nov. 5, the facility is now known as the Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center at Plano. It is one of seven cancer treatment centers in the Baylor system bearing the Sammons name, which was first designated to the hospital system's Dallas campus in 1976.
The designation is the culmination of years of recognition for the hospital, which recently secured the highest level of accreditation possible for a non-teaching hospital from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, said Dr. Mark Engleman, director of oncology at Baylor Plano.
"The Sammons Cancer Center, by U.S. News and World Report, is the No. 1 cancer center in Dallas," he said. "... They have multiple, nationally recognized experts, and their reputation, if you look, is trending upwards."
The changes won't stop with the sign, however. The hospital hopes to develop a new cancer health and wellness center at the entrance to the center, a concept doctors and members of the hospital board's advisory committee are trying put into shape right now.
Joey Carter, Baylor Plano board chair, said the new area will be a place where patients and families can connect with the resources they need to deal with the impact of the disease. Areas for support groups, physical therapy, healthy cooking lessons, and early diagnostics and testing are also envisioned.
"We really want to have a front door that really communicates hope, and not that a diagnosis is [something] to stop living for," he said. "Two-thirds of all cancer patients now survive, and with healthy outcomes."
Cancer centers in the hospital system must meet several criteria to be designated as a Sammons facility. They must be certified by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, participate in shared quality initiatives and meet a required percentage of Oncology Nursing Society-certified nurses.
Sammons facilities must also participate in health councils comprised of oncologists and nurses from across the system. The councils work to develop patient care practices that can be shared among all Baylor hospitals, said Dr. Alan Miller, chief of oncology for the Baylor health care system and director of the Dallas Sammons center.
"Hanging up the sign and putting the name on it is just putting a recognition of what we're now doing, which is functioning as a network in terms of providing cancer care," he said.
Miller said the addition of patient navigators, who help patients coordinate appointments and understand medical terminology and concepts, and the expansion of clinical trials for cancer patients have also been hallmark improvements in the years leading up to the name change.
"I am really excited that we have such a breadth and depth of cancer care in the Dallas Metroplex and that it is associated with Baylor and the Baylor Sammons name," he said. "I've got great colleagues, and I'm very confident that individuals in Dallas who are unfortunate and get cancer are fortunate in that they have access to some of the finest cancer care in the country."
A sign bearing the treatment center's new name should be installed in January, officials said.
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