JACKSONVILLE, FL — The Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) has awarded a three-year accreditation renewal to the Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program of Mayo Clinic, Nemours Children’s Clinic, Jacksonville and Wolfson Children’s Hospital. The foundation awarded the accreditation renewal after thorough site visits at all collection, transplantation and laboratory facilities at the three locations.
“FACT accreditation is the standard of excellence for blood and bone marrow transplant programs in the United States,” said Michael Joyce, MD, PhD, a hematologist/oncologist with Nemours Children’s Clinic. “FACT assures our patients that we are adhering to and meeting the highest standards in the field. The physicians, hematology/oncology nursing, allied health and laboratory staff at all three organizations worked extremely hard to achieve this goal.”
“We are pleased that the Mayo Clinic, Nemours Children’s Clinic and Wolfson Children’s Hospital have met the requirements of the Foundation and have been granted accreditation for their joint Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program,” said Dr. Phyllis Warkentin, FACT medical director.
The joint program was created 10 years ago to allow for greater collaboration in physician and staff expertise, research and clinical protocols. Many patient referrals to the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program come from physicians at Nemours Children’s Clinic locations in Jacksonville, Orlando and Pensacola, as well as from across the region. Since it was established, the combined program has transplanted patients with a variety of illnesses including childhood leukemia, Ewing’s sarcoma, neuroblastoma, multiple myeloma, lymphoma and amyloidosis. Stem cell sources include the patient, HLA-matched family members, unrelated adult marrow donors or unrelated umbilical cord blood donor units.
The program shares a single cryopreservation laboratory (where hematopoietic stem cells are frozen and processed) at the Mayo Clinic hospital. Mayo’s hospital maintains the program’s adult blood and marrow transplant unit, and Wolfson Children’s Hospital maintains its Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit. The program shares information systems, network and other clinical and administrative staff.
“This is a unique program that combines forces between adult and pediatric specialists to create a unified transplant program that is efficient and effective. We are pleased to celebrate our third FACT accreditation since 2002,” said Vivek Roy, MD, medical director of the adult blood and bone marrow transplant program, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville.
“The success of the program, both academically and clinically, is attributable to a group of outstanding physicians and staff who continue to do what is in the best interest of their patients and the community-at-large,” says Jerry Bridgham, MD, chief medical officer of Wolfson Children’s Hospital.
Current medical directors for the program include Michael Joyce, MD, PhD, pediatric blood and marrow transplant director, Nemours Children’s Clinic; Vivek Roy, MD, overall program director and the medical director of the adult blood and bone marrow transplant program, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville; Abba Zubair, MD, PhD, medical director of the cryopreservation laboratory, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville; and Jeffrey Goldstein, MD, medical director of the pediatric apheresis program, Wolfson Children’s Hospital. Mayo Clinic hematologist Lawrence Solberg, MD, PhD, was the merged program’s first director.