April 18, 2024
Staff/Philly Voice
Jefferson Health's Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, located in the Honickman Center, has been designated a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute, its highest designation.
The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center has earned one of the nation's top designations for its work in the areas of cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
The National Cancer Institute has named it a comprehensive cancer center, one of 57 in the nation and the third in Philadelphia, Jefferson Health announced Thursday. The two others are Penn Medicine's Abramson Cancer Center and Temple Health's Fox Chase Cancer Center.
The NCI, part of the National Institutes of Health, conducts and supports cancer research around the United States. It designates comprehensive cancer centers every five years after a peer review process that assesses the extent to which health care systems are promoting superior cancer research and developing new treatments to reduce the number of cancer diagnoses and death rates in the regions they serve. NCI recognition also means that an institution has achieved excellence in conducting local outreach, including to underserved communities.
"This prestigious designation recognizes our center's excellence in cancer prevention, patient care and clinical research," said Dr. Baligh R. Yehia, president of Jefferson Health. "It also elevates our entire health system's capabilities to deliver cutting-edge care and innovative solutions to our patients right here in our community."
In addition to its main medical facility in Center City, the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center has advanced-care hubs in other parts of the city, as well as in South Jersey and Montgomery and Bucks counties. The cancer center serves more than 8,900 patients a year through treatment plans, clinical trials and support services.
"The NCI Comprehensive designation is an important milestone in our commitment to reducing the cancer burden not only in Philadelphia, but across the United States and globally," said Dr. Susan C. Aldridge, interim president of Thomas Jefferson University.
In 1996, the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center became an NCI-designated cancer center. The new designation is the NCI's highest.
In recognition of the NCI designation, philanthropists Caroline and Sidney Kimmel are matching every dollar raised for the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center Innovation Fund, up to $250,000. The Kimmels have given more than $200 million to Jefferson.
