FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Don Jewler, ACCC Communications Director
301.984.9496, ext. 208
djewler@accc-cancer.org
For Immediate Release: February 1, 2006
H. Lee Moffitt to Receive Association of Community Cancer Centers’ Annual Achievement Award
Innovator and advocate of community access to clinical trials and multidisciplinary cancer care for patients with cancer to be honored
ROCKVILLE, MD—H. Lee Moffitt will be honored with the Association of Community Cancer Centers’ (ACCC’s) Annual Achievement Award for his long-standing dedication and commitment to providing patients with high-quality cancer care. The award will be presented to Mr. Moffitt on Friday, March 17, 2006, during ACCC’s 32nd Annual National Meeting in Arlington, Va.
“This recognition from the Association of Community Cancer Centers means a lot to me,” said Mr. Moffitt. “My responsibility remains to help those with cancer. Still, frankly, I would love nothing better than to put the cancer center out of business—when we can prevent and cure cancer.”
As a member of the Florida legislature, Mr. Moffitt worked for many years to bring to Florida a world-class cancer center. He became speaker of the House in 1982, and worked to secure the center’s funding from Florida’s cigarette tax. A portion of the existing tax was diverted to construction of a $50 million facility. During Mr. Moffitt’s term as speaker, the legislature attempted to add an amendment to a bill to have the center named after him, a cancer survivor twice himself. He promptly ruled the amendment out of order and refused to accept the designation, but the bill was passed by the House and Senate when he was lured away for a meeting. Today, the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute has gained an international reputation for excellence, where patient satisfaction is one of the highest in the nation.
Mr. Moffitt continues to advocate of community access to clinical trials and multidisciplinary cancer care for patients with cancer.
The Association of Community Cancer Centers provides a national forum for addressing issues that affect community cancer programs, such as regulatory and legislative issues, measurements of the quality of care, and clinical research. Its unique membership of more than 650 hospital cancer programs and oncology private practices includes all members of the cancer care team: medical and radiation oncologists, surgeons, cancer program administrators and medical directors, oncology nurses, pharmacists, radiation therapists, oncology social workers, and cancer program data managers.
