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Community Corner

ValleyCare Launches Cancer Rehab Services

PleasantonCA  ValleyCare Health System announces the launch of its new cancer rehabilitation services as part of the STAR® Program Certification (Survivorship Training and Rehab). This special certification was earned through the Massachusetts-based Oncology Rehab Partners, leading experts in the field of cancer survivorship care.

            STAR Program Certification uniquely qualifies facilities like ValleyCare to offer premium cancer rehabilitation and survivorship services to people who suffer from the debilitating side effects often caused by cancer treatment.

            To receive its certification, ValleyCare implemented the STAR Program, which involves training clinicians and focusing on improving patient outcomes. These clinicians come from a variety of disciplines including: physicians, physical/occupational/speech therapists, dieticians, mental health professionals and others. They will work together with each patient on a personalized rehabilitation plan to help the patient increase strength and energy, reduce pain and improve daily function and quality of life.

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            The health care services offered by the STAR Program are covered by most insurance providers, including Medicare, and will be provided by knowledgeable and sensitive staff that are specially trained to work with survivors of all forms of cancer.

            “With the launch of this program, ValleyCare is leading the way by offering excellent cancer rehabilitation,” says Joe Carlucci, executive director of Ambulatory Services for ValleyCare. “The STAR Program provides us with the tools we need to quickly and effectively implement high quality survivorship services.”

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            The STAR Program is being utilized in some of the best cancer centers in the country including Johns Hopkins, as well as many excellent community hospitals.  STAR Program Certification was developed by Julie Silver, M.D., an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, a cancer survivor, and the author of several books on oncology rehabilitation. Dr. Silver developed the STAR Program after going through cancer treatment herself, realizing that she desperately needed rehabilitation in order to return to her former level of function. 

             The development of the STAR Program was also prompted by an eye-opening Institute of Medicine report published in 2006 and titled From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition.  This report highlighted many deficits in survivorship care and recommended that survivorship become a distinct phase of cancer care.  As such, most of the survivorship services integrated in the STAR Program are reimbursable by health insurance providers.

              STAR Program rehabilitation services are offered on an outpatient basis in the ValleyCare Dublin and Livermore facilities. Physician referral is required. For more information about the STAR Program Cancer Rehabilitation, please contact: 925-734-3313. or visit www.valleycare.com/cancer.

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