Baptist Cancer Center named Center of Excellence

The Baptist Cancer Center’s lung cancer program recently was named a 360 Community Hospital Center of Excellence.

The Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation gave the Baptist Cancer Center the designation. The Addario Foundation’s goal is to improve individualized standard of care for lung cancer patients in community hospitals.

“Through this program, we are creating lung cancer-specific centers of excellence in the community hospital setting,” said Bonnie J. Addario, a lung cancer survivor and founder of the Addario Foundation. “The Baptist Cancer Center has received our formal seal of excellence, signifying that no lung cancer patient is left behind.”

The designation means the Baptist Cancer Center reflects the Addario Foundation’s standards of care of providing an individualized approach to care, giving lung cancer patients access to the newest and most effective diagnostic and therapeutic techniques for their specific needs.

“This is both a thrilling and humbling honor for us,” said Dr. Raymond Osarogiagbon, a medical oncologist with Baptist Medical Group-Boston Baskin Cancer Foundation. “Our Baptist Cancer Center physicians and staff expertly combine the latest research and techniques with personalized patient care. We are proud of the work they do and the lives they save every day.”

The Center of Excellence designation is the latest in a series of honors the Baptist Cancer Center has earned during the past year. Last August, The National Cancer Institute gave the center a five-year, $3 million grant to help spearhead clinical research focused on disparities in cancer care among minorities and historically underserved groups. A month later, the center earned a $2.1 million research award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to study the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary model of care for lung cancer patients.

About the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation
The Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation is one of the largest philanthropies (patient-founded, patient-focused, and patient-driven) devoted exclusively to eradicating lung cancer through research, early detection, education, and treatment. The Foundation’s goal is to work with a diverse group of physicians, organizations, industry partners, individuals, patients, survivors, and their families to identify solutions, make timely and meaningful change and turn lung cancer into a chronically managed disease by 2023. The ALCF was established on March 1, 2006 as a 501c(3) non-profit organization and has raised more than $20 million for lung cancer research and related programs.