Results of the election of new officers and trustees (2013–2014) for the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) were announced recently at the ACCC Annual National Meeting.
First Nonphysician ACCC President Elected
Virginia Vaitones, MSW, became ACCC President at the 39th Annual National Meeting held in Washington, DC, in March. She is an oncology social worker—the first such professional to head ACCC—at PenBay Medical Center in Rockport, Maine.
Ms. Vaitones has been an active member of ACCC since 2002, working on the Program Guidelines and Governmental Affairs Committees. She helped develop ACCC’s patient navigation materials and recently served on advisory boards for the Financial Information and Learning Network and Improving Quality Care in Small-Population Cancers: Multiple Myeloma Project.
“I am a strong believer in the interdisciplinary team that is needed in today’s cancer care programs to help our patients and their caregivers navigate the complexities of care,” said Ms. Vaitones. “I can think of no other organization that better understands and supports those ideas and programs.”
The ASCO Post asked Ms. Vaitones if she thought that inauguration of a social worker—of any nonphysician, for that matter—will change the way ACCC functions. She said that it will surely have an effect. “I’m hopeful that other disciplines within cancer care will become involved in the organization; we can’t afford to work in silos any longer.” She added, “ACCC, as the only interdisciplinary organization for cancer programs, is uniquely positioned to be a voice for the entire oncology team.”
ACCC’s officers and new Board of Trustees members for 2013–2014 are:
President: Virginia T. Vaitones, MSW, OSW-C
Pen Bay Medical Center, Cancer Care Center, Rockport, Maine
President-Elect:Becky L. Dekay, MBA
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
Feist-Weiller Cancer Center, Shreveport, Louisiana
Secretary:Steven L. D’Amato, BSPharm, BCOP
Maine Center for Cancer Medicine
Scarborough, Maine
Treasurer:Jennie R. Crews, MD
PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center
Bellingham, Washington
Immediate-Past President:George Kovach, MD
Iowa Cancer Specialists, PC
Joining the Board of Trustees are:
Randall A. Oyer, MD
Lancaster General Hospital
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Nicole Bradshaw, MS, MBA
St. Luke’s Mountain States Tumor Institute
Nampa, Idaho
Colleen Gill, MS, RD, CSO
University of Colorado Hospital, University of Colorado Cancer Center
Aurora, Colorado
Re-elected to the Board were:
Brenda Nevidjon, MSN, RN, FAAN
Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center
Durham, North Carolina
Kim Woofter, RN, OCN
Michiana Hematology-Oncology, PC
South Bend, Indiana
Rotating off the Board after serving two consecutive terms are:
Frances Becker, LCSW, OSW-C
Stamford Hospital, Bennett Cancer Center
Stamford, Connecticut
Heidi Floden, PharmD
GW Medical Faculty Associates
Washington, DC
Thomas L. Whittaker, MD, FACP
IU Health Central Indiana
Cancer Centers Indianapolis, Indiana ■
