Battling breast cancer
Close coordination of services is vital in identifying and treating this disease.
If you're diagnosed with Breast Cancer, you want the finest medical services and the most tested expertise. You want the specialists who treat you to communicate with each other about what’s best. Fortunately, that’s the way it is at Monmouth Medical Center’s Jacqueline M. Wilentz Comprehensive Breast Center.
The center is led by a breast surgeon and a radiologist, working together. Surgeon Debra Camal, M.D., is its new medical director, and Jorge G. Pardes, M.D., is the new director of breast imaging. Dr. Camal has been on staff at Monmouth since 1998, while Dr. Pardes arrived this January, but both agree that their close working relationship helps to make the center effective.
“We’re on the same wavelength when it comes to what’s necessary for patients with suspicious findings,” says Dr. Pardes.
Agrees Dr. Camal: “In breast health, no one can act alone. I can’t do my job without strong imaging support to do breast imaging evaluation and image-guided needle biopsies. It’s better for the patient when we all communicate, and here at the center we consult often.”
The breast radiology team also includes three new specially trained breast imagers: Yasmeen Shariff, M.D.; Cynthia Barone, M.D.; and Ilona Hertz, M.D. There are also two certified advanced breast health nurse practitioners, two radiation oncologists, six breast surgeons, four medical oncologists, a specialized breast pathology program, a certified genetic counselor and an advanced practice navigation team to help each patient through the sometimes confusing maze of treatment options.
“We also conduct a multidisciplinary tumor board weekly to discuss every case,” says Shirley Hwang, administrative director of the Leon Hess Cancer Center. “Decisions are not made by a surgeon or oncologist alone. Doctors from all relevant disciplines see the case presented and we gather opinions, achieve consensus and send recommendations to the patient’s referring physician.”
The center is the only one of its kind in Monmouth and Ocean counties to receive accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers and to be certified by the National Quality Measures for Breast Centers, Hwang says. “Patients come here not just for screening or diagnostic work,” she says. “We take them from these steps through treatment and into our long-term survivorship program, all under one roof.”
As medical director, Dr. Camal hopes to make the center still more efficient. “We’re working to minimize the time each step takes, from quicker registration to quicker turnaround for mammograms and needle biopsies to quicker appointments with a surgeon,” she says. “I will do whatever I can to help the whole system work better right from the front door.”
Her other goal is to spread the word about her center’s capabilities. “I am from New York, but I believe we have all necessary breast-cancer services right here,” she says. “Women shouldn’t feel they have to go into the city if they are diagnosed with breast cancer. All the right people with the right skills are here to take care of you, now and for years to come.”
