HYANNIS – Falmouth Hospital surgeon Peter Hopewood, MD, FACS, was honored by the American Cancer Society (ACS) recently, when he was presented with the Lane W. Adams Quality of Life Award.
Dr. Hopewood was one of seven individuals who received the national award for their leadership and work serving the complex needs of cancer patients and their families.
“It was an honor to receive it and not expected,” said Dr. Hopewood.
While he’s not sure how the recognition came about, his patients may have had a say in it.
In the description of his award, the American Cancer Society cited his work to “reach, engage and educate the cancer community” and “his patients attest to the fact that Dr. Hopewood genuinely cares about their quality of life.”
This is the theme that runs throughout his work locally and at the state and national levels. He has been involved with the Cape Cod Healthcare cancer prevention programs for the past 10 years, and has worked with the national Commission on Cancer (CoC), which is a quality improvement program of the American College of Surgeons for the past nine years.
“Cape Cod Healthcare has been really good to me, letting me do things without holding me back,” said Dr. Hopewood. “I think it’s because we all have the same goals and expectations for patient care, quality of care and improvement of care. And now we’re trying to maintain excellent care, looking at the price, and making sure what we do makes sense.”
Dr. Hopewood is a surveyor for the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) with the CoC, doing site visits in many states. He recently moved into a leadership role as chairman of the Cancer Liaison Physician Committee, one of the two CoC programs that are funded by the American Cancer Society. In this role, Dr. Hopewood communicates with 1,500 programs nationwide and 50 state chairs.
“We’re looking to improve the quality of care and get the word out to the communities how to improve their screening, prevention programs, evidenced-based care and survivorship,” said Dr. Hopewood. “We’re looking at how to improve survivorship and the quality of life for all survivors.”
Going forward, he hopes he can lead by example.
“It’s what other physicians and health care providers can do, it’s not hard and sometimes you just need to see what other people have done.”
By ROBERTA CANNON, Cape Cod Health News
[Featured Image: From left to right is Gary Reedy, CEO American Cancer Society; Dr. Hopewood; Susan D. Henry, Lane W. Adams Quality of Life Workgroup and Kevin Cullen, Chair of the Board, American Cancer Society.]
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