Leading Cancer Surgeon Receives Prestigious Award from ACS Cancer Commission

Feb. 11, 2010 - PRLog -- Shahriyour Andaz, MD, FACS, director of thoracic oncology at South Nassau Communities Hospital, recently received an Outstanding Performance Award for going above and beyond the scope of usual duties in serving as the liaison between the cancer program at South Nassau and the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (CoC).

Dr. Andaz is one of just 36 of the more than 1,600 physicians in the U.S. serving as Cancer Liaison Physicians to the American College of Surgeons CoC to receive the prestigious award.  A Cancer Liaison Physician provides leadership and direction to establish, maintain, and support the facility’s cancer program and is an integral part of cancer programs accredited by the CoC.  

The Cancer Liaison Physician Outstanding Performance Award is given to recognize liaison  physicians’ work in developing and/or implementing an idea(s) that improved the quality of care delivered at their facility; directly contributing to the accreditation status of the cancer program; exceeding the expectations set forth for Cancer Liaison Physicians to strengthen the cancer program; demonstrating leadership and support for cancer control activities in the community and with the ACS; or serving as a role model for other staff and exhibiting characteristics that truly make them a physician champion for the cancer program.  The awardees were recognized at the Cancer Liaison Program breakfast, held during the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress in October 2009.  

As South Nassau’s Cancer Liaison Physician, Dr. Andaz, is responsible for spearheading CoC initiatives within the hospital’s cancer program; collaborating with local agencies, such as the American Cancer Society; and facilitating quality improvement initiatives utilizing data submitted to the CoC's National Cancer Database (NCDB).  The NCDB currently contains patient demographics, tumor characteristics, treatment, and outcomes information for over 25 million malignant cancers diagnosed and treated at hospital cancer programs in the United States.  The CoC collects data from its approved cancer programs and provides tools these facilities can use to facilitate the analysis of patterns of diagnosis and treatment.

Established in 1922 by the American College of Surgeons, the Commission on Cancer is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to improving survival and quality of life for cancer patients through standard-setting, prevention, research, education, and the monitoring of comprehensive quality care.  Its membership includes Fellows of the American College of Surgeons and representatives of 46 national organizations that reflect the full spectrum of cancer care.

The CoC’s core functions include setting standards for quality, multidisciplinary cancer patient care; surveying facilities to evaluate compliance with the CoC standards; collecting standardized, high-quality data from accredited facilities; and using the data to develop effective educational interventions to improve cancer care outcomes at the national, state, and local level.  There are currently more than 1,400 CoC-accredited cancer programs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.  For more information about the Commission on Cancer, visit www.facs.org/cancer/index.html.

Dr. Andaz is board certified in both thoracic and general surgery and specializes in complex chest cancer procedures and minimally invasive thorascopic surgery.  His expertise includes chest wall sarcoma resection and reconstruction, mesothelioma, tracheal resections and reconstructions, endobronchial surgery, esophageal resection and lung volume reduction surgery.  Eliminating the need for large incisions and painful rib resections, the minimally invasive approach offers faster healing and shortened recovery time.

Dr. Andaz has extensive training with elite thoracic surgeons at some of the world's leading medical institutions.  Before joining UCLA Medical Center’s Thoracic Surgery Department in 2003, Dr. Andaz was an attending cardiothoracic surgeon from 2001-03 at Brookdale, Coney Island and Lutheran Hospitals and Maimonides Medical Center, where he was a Cardiothoracic Fellow from 1998-2001.  Dr Andaz moved to the U.S. after serving as the rotating surgical registrar in general and vascular surgery for Basingstroke District Hospital, University College Hospital and Mount Vernon Hospital in the United Kingdom from 1988-93. Consider including when he came to the east coast?

Thoracic oncology is a division of South Nassau’s surgical oncology program, which also specializes in head, neck, breast and chest tumors; tumors of the female reproductive system; soft tissue sarcoma and melanoma and upper gastrointestinal and colorectal procedures; tracheal, esophageal and liver surgeries; and radio frequency ablation for liver tumors.  The program’s surgical oncologists use advanced minimally invasive techniques whenever possible that eliminate the need for large incisions, reduce blood loss during surgery, and lessen the intensity of post-operative pain.  They work with medical oncologists and radiation oncologists in comprehensive, multidisciplinary teams to provide evaluation and therapy for a wide range of cancers, both common and rare.

For more information or to schedule an appointment with Dr. Andaz, call 516-255-5010 or 1-877-SouthNassau, or visit southnassau.org.

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South Nassau Communities Hospital is one of the region’s largest hospitals, with 435 beds, more than 875 physicians and 2,600 employees. Located in Oceanside, NY, the hospital is an acute-care, not-for-profit teaching hospital that provides state-of-the-art care in cardiac, oncologic, orthopedic, bariatric, pain management, mental health and emergency services. In addition to its extensive outpatient specialty centers, South Nassau is a designated Stroke Center, boasts Long Island’s first and only Gamma Knifeâ and provides emergency and elective angioplasty. South Nassau is designated as a Comprehensive Community Cancer Center by the American College of Surgeons and is recognized as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence by the American Society of Bariatric Surgery. For more information, visit www.southnassau.org.