The Cancer Program Fundamentals web section is a member-created resource. ACCC would like to acknowledge and thank the members of the ACCC Cancer Program Fundamentals Committee for their contributions to this dynamic resource. ACCC also thanks the many experienced multidisciplinary oncology team members who helped author, peer review, and/or provide resources for this web section.
The ACCC Cancer Program Fundamentals Committee welcomes member feedback and suggestions for this resource.
Chair 2020-2021
Barbara Jensen, RN, BSN, MBA, is a dynamic nurse leader and the Director of Operations with North Puget Oncology, a physician owned private practice group of medical oncologists serving Skagit Regional Health in Mount Vernon and Arlington Washington as well as Island Hospital in Anacortes, Washington.
Ms. Jensen has over 22 years of healthcare experience in a variety of settings to include oncology, home health, home infusion, orthopedic and surgical care, and wound care. She has spent the last 12 years as the Regional Director of Oncology for Skagit Regional Health, making the transition to the private physician practice group in 2021.
During her tenure as the Regional Director of Oncology, she led her team through successful accreditation surveys for the cancer center to include the Commission on Cancer (CoC) with Commendation, National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), and the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) certification program. Her work with the multidisciplinary team of The Breast Institute to improve breast cancer screening volumes and technology in the Skagit Valley was culminated in 2019 with the opening of the Chris and Barb Jensen Women’s Imaging Center, bringing state-of-the-art imaging to include 3-D mammography to the region.
Immediate Past Chair
Virginia Vaitones, MSW, OSW-C Emeritus, recently retired after more than 39 years as an oncology social worker, and continues to work (per diem) in the Cancer Care Program at Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport, Maine. She is a past president of the Association of Community Cancer Centers.
Throughout her career, she has had a special interest in multiple myeloma and the impact the disease has on patients and their loved ones. She has worked on previous multiple myeloma education projects with ACCC.
She is a past president of the Association of Oncology Social Work (AOSW) and represented this association at the Commission on Cancer (CoC) for 11 years. She was involved in the writing and updating the CoC Cancer Program Standards 2012: Ensuring Patient Centered Care. Her areas of interest and expertise include patient navigation, financial advocacy, and psychosocial distress screening.
Ms. Vaitones earned her MSW degree from Simmons College School of Social Work.