The American College of Radiology (ACR) has awarded a three-year term of accreditation in radiation oncology to the University of Florida Health Proton Therapy Institute. It is awarded to facilities that meet or exceed national standards in radiation oncology. Of the 17 proton therapy centers in the U.S., UF Health Proton Therapy Institute is one of three proton therapy facilities to have earned the ACR seal of accreditation, representing the highest level of quality and patient safety.

The accreditation means that personnel are qualified through education and certification to administer radiation therapy. Furthermore, it means the equipment is appropriate for delivering radiation therapy and meets or exceeds national standards for safety and quality assurance.

“Our goal is to deliver safe, effective cancer treatment to patients using proton therapy,” said Nancy P. Mendenhall, M.D., medical director of the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute and associate chair and professor of radiation oncology at UF. “Being part of an academic health center and a Florida Cancer Center of Excellence, we opened our doors for an objective and rigorous peer review by ACR. We are honored to have earned this distinction, and I commend our staff for their commitment to excellence.”

UF Health Proton Therapy Institute was recognized earlier this year among the first four Florida Cancer Centers of Excellence designated by the Florida Department of Health. The designation means that treatment centers demonstrate excellence in patient-centered coordinated cancer care.

The ACR is the nation’s oldest and most widely accepted radiation oncology accrediting body, with over 600 accredited sites, and 27 years of accreditation experience. The ACR seal of accreditation is awarded only to facilities meeting specific Practice Guidelines and Technical Standards developed by ACR after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified radiation oncologists and medical physicists who are experts in the field. Patient care and treatment, patient safety, personnel qualifications, adequacy of facility equipment, quality control procedures, and quality assurance programs are assessed. The findings are reported to the ACR Committee on Radiation Oncology Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report they can use for continuous practice improvement.

The ACR is a national professional organization serving more than 36,000 diagnostic/interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians, and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.

Team Florida Proton participated in the 2nd Annual LungForce Walk in August to benefit the American Lung Association (ALA) and its effort to raise awareness of lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer death in women. Funds raised at the walk benefit the research and early detection programs sponsored by the ALA.

By Carol Estocko

After Ben Smith was “fired” by his urologist 10 years ago for declining to undergo a radical prostatectomy to treat his prostate cancer, Smith fired up his computer and got to work.

“I started doing Internet research and looking at every available therapy at the time, even cryotherapy,” the 62-year-old Cocoa Beach, Florida, resident says. “All of the treatments had pretty good e ffi cacy. But then, they would talk all about the possible side e ff ects like impotence and incontinence — except for proton beam therapy.”

At the time, there were only a handful of clinical centers o ff ering proton therapy in the United States, including ones in Boston, Massachusetts, and Loma Linda, California. “I did a little more homework and found that the University of Florida was actually building one in Jacksonville, which is two hours from my home,” says Smith. He reached out to the sta ff of the soon-to-open University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute (UFPTI) and said he wanted to be the first patient.

“I waited for it to open,” says Smith, who received his first proton beam treatment at UFPTI on August 14, 2006.

“I was the first person in that machine when they turned it on,” he recalls. “I had 39 treatments, and the equipment worked every time. I might have been delayed while they tweaked something, but I never had a treatment get cancelled. This is complicated machinery — a particle accelerator, magnets. It’s crazy how huge, powerful and complex these systems are. And they got it up and running 39 days in a row.”

Smith, a retired aerospace engineer, thinks that many doctors still view proton therapy as an experimental procedure — if they have even heard about it at all.

“I think one has to be one’s own advocate,” he says. “I don’t think doctors want to harm you. But the urologist wants to operate. The radiation oncologist wants to radiate. Another person wants to do seed implants (brachytherapy). They want to do what they know. And a lot of people go with whatever the doctor says.”

Smith and his wife Lisa are in the process of restoring a 36-foot sailboat, which they plan to live on for the foreseeable future. They will travel, then determine where they want to settle down. “We are enjoying our lives,” he says.

“For me, proton beam was a treatment I was privileged and blessed to have, but it’s just something that I did, and I’m glad I did it. If I see an article on it, I’ll read it. But it’s not something that I need to make a major part of my life.”

This article originally appeared March 20, 2015, in Proton Therapy Today. Used with permission.

The 11th Annual Play Golf. Fight Cancer.® Classic , UF Health Proton Therapy Institute’s primary fundraising event, is Oct. 11-12, 2015, at The World Golf Village, St. Augustine, Fla. The event is being presented by IBA and .decimal with additional support from Shepherd and has something for everyone.

A dinner and silent auction is planned for Sunday, Oct. 11, in the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum. For all who register as a player, you automatically have a ticket to the dinner. However, tickets to attend the dinner and silent auction are also available for those who do not wish to play golf.

Aside from a great dinner, you will enjoy entertainment such as:

• A live auction called by local celebrity Chef Robert Tulko.

• Bid on auction items such as

• A one-week stay at a North Carolina cabin
• A luxury boat excursion for 6 people
• Dinner for 6 prepared by Chef Robert Tulko
• Passes to the 2016 The PLAYERS tournament
• A laptop computer

• A look inside the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum honoring the greatest players and contributors to the game of golf.

• Try out the new Golfzon golf simulator for a virtual experience playing on a choice of 150 worldwide courses

The tournament will be played Monday, Oct. 12, on both of the o ffi cial courses of the World Golf Hall of Fame. The King & Bear is a course that has the distinction of being the only design collaboration between namesakes Arnold “The King” Palmer and Jack “The Bear” Nicklaus. The Slammer & Squire is a championship resort course designed by Bobby Weed with consultants Sam “The Slammer” Snead and Gene “The Squire” Sarazen.

Golfers will have the chance to win prizes along the way and to meet and greet 7-time Olympic medalist Shannon Miller. She is the honorary chair of this year’s tournament and is the keynote speaker at the awards ceremony following tournament play.

Please join us in support of proton therapy research and register today at www.playgolffightcancer.org website. To donate or support the cause in some other way, if you are not available for the event, contact tournament chair Michael McPhillips at mcpforegolf@gmail.com (904) 910-7098 or Judy Taylor Holland jholland@floridaproton.org (904) 588-1401.