CommonSpirit Penrose Hospital earns re-accreditation as a Rectal Center of Excellence

February 15, 2024

CommonSpirit Penrose Hospital has earned re-accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer (NAPRC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons. Currently, Penrose is the only Rectal Cancer Center of Excellence in Colorado.

To achieve voluntary NAPRC accreditation, a rectal cancer center must demonstrate compliance with the NAPRC standards addressing program management, clinical services, and quality improvement for patients.

“We provide the highest quality of care for patients with rectal cancer. We have compassionate physicians and caregivers who are part of multidisciplinary team who walk with patients through every step of the process. This accreditation improves patient’s outcomes and experiences,” said Christopher Taylor, MD, director of the center.

Rectal cancer programs accredited by the NAPRC undergo a site visit every three years and are also accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. Accreditation by the NAPRC is granted only to those programs that are committed to providing the best possible care to patients with rectal cancer.

About CommonSpirit Health 

CommonSpirit Health is a nonprofit, Catholic health system dedicated to advancing health for all people. It was created in February 2019 by Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health. The Mountain Region includes 20 hospitals, 240 physician practices and clinics, emergency and urgent care centers, home care and hospice services, and Flight For Life® Colorado.  With its national office in Chicago and a team of over 175,000 employees and 25,000 physicians and advanced practice clinicians, CommonSpirit operates 142 hospitals and more than 2,200 care sites across 24 states. In FY 2022, CommonSpirit had revenues of $33.9 billion and provided $4.9 billion in charity care, community benefit, and unreimbursed government programs. Learn more at www.commonspirit.org.

About the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer

The NAPRC was developed through a collaboration between the Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons, and the Optimizing the Surgical Treatment of Rectal Cancer (OSTRiCh) Consortium, as well as the American College of Radiology (ACR), the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS), and the College of American Pathologists (CAP). The NAPRC is based on successful international models that emphasize program structure, patient care processes, performance improvement, and performance measures. Its goal is to ensure that rectal cancer patients receive appropriate care using a multidisciplinary approach. For more information visit https://www.facs.org/naprc.

About the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer

Established in 1922 by the ACS, the CoC is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to improving patient outcomes and quality of life for cancer patients through standard-setting, prevention, research, education, and the monitoring of comprehensive quality care. For more information on the CoC, visit: https://www.facs.org/quality-programs/cancer/coc.