One of Ontario’s largest nuclear medicine programs is recognized for its leadership and advancement in the areas of quality of care, patient access, program offering, research, training and procedure frequency.
March 20, 2023
(LONDON, Ontario) – Looking at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) from the intersection of Wellington and Baseline Road, the passerby might not realize it’s home to one of Ontario’s largest and most comprehensive radiopharmaceutical therapy and nuclear medicine programs. In recognition of LHSC’s quality of care, scope and leadership in this area, the hospital has recently been designated as a Comprehensive Radiopharmaceutical Therapy Center of Excellence.
The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) is the scientific body that sets the standards and publishes guidelines on nuclear medicine and molecular imaging across North America. SNMMI also certifies hospitals to ensure a comprehensive set of site and patient care-related standards are met to receive the Comprehensive Center of Excellence designation, which was awarded to LHSC in January. The certification means LHSC demonstrates leadership and advancement in the areas of quality of care, patient access, training, research, program offering, and procedure frequency.
“Being designated a center of excellence recognizes the quality of our nuclear medicine program in providing a wide range of therapies to patients from across the region,” says Stephen Nelli, Coordinator for Nuclear Medicine at LHSC. “Serving as the only Designated Comprehensive Center of Excellence in Ontario, and only one of three designated centres in Canada, LHSC has met a comprehensive set of criteria to receive this certification. This means patients accessing radiopharmaceutical nuclear medicine at LHSC can be confident in the hospital’s quality of care and vast offering of disease-specific therapies available.”
So, what is radiopharmaceutical therapy and nuclear medicine, exactly? While the name may be hard to pronounce, the therapies provided through the program can be life-changing and assist with treating patients experiencing a range of different diseases. Radiopharmaceuticals are a type of tracer used in the application of nuclear medicine to help image how the body works or understand its physiology. In cancer care, nuclear medicine is used to detect tumours and tumour cells in the body. Injected intravenously, the radiation emitted through these tracers helps detect, diagnose, and treat various cancers.
As part of the certification process, LHSC’s team completed an application and interview process to outline the radiopharmaceutical therapy and nuclear medicine program offerings and the scope of care available to patients at LHSC’s Victoria and University hospital campuses. LHSC was evaluated to receive the certification based on the range of services and therapies the program is qualified to offer to patients, which includes:
- Neuroendocrine cancer
- Bone cancer
- Thyroid cancer
- Liver cancer
- Prostate cancer
By the Numbers:
- LHSC’s Nuclear Medicine program offers over 60 different types of diagnostic procedures and performs about 14,000 procedures annually. The highest-volume procedures include bone, lung and kidney scans and nuclear stress tests.
- On average, LHSC performs 350 radiopharmaceutical therapies each year.
- Last year, the Nuclear Medicine program treated approximately 150 patients.
- The program consists of 25 Nuclear Medicine Technologists, seven Nuclear Medicine Physicians, six administrative support staff and two Registered Nurses.
- In partnership with Western University, LHSC is home to the largest Nuclear Medicine residency training program in Canada.
Read More
- Learn more about Radiopharmaceutical Therapy Centers of Excellence.
- See the list of sites that have been designated as SNMMI Comprehensive Radiopharmaceutical Therapy Centers of Excellence.
- Learn more about LHSC’s Nuclear Medicine program.
For more information please contact:
Elizabeth Summers
Senior Media Relations Consultant
London Health Sciences Centre
519-685-8500 ext. 77767
media@lhsc.on.ca
