Wellstar Kennestone Cancer Care

Wellstar Kennestone Cancer Care
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Personalized Cancer Care, Close to Home

People face cancer with confidence in the serene Wellstar Cancer Center at Kennestone Hospital. You can count on receiving the most elevated form of multidisciplinary care from physicians with in-depth expertise. We offer a broad range of advanced treatments and clinical trials. Our patients also appreciate convenient screening options for cancer, labs, imaging and the ability to see cancer specialists at our health parks in Acworth, East Cobb and Cherokee County.

At Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, patients benefit from Mayo Clinic’s expertise from the comfort of your own community. Through Wellstar’s membership in the Mayo Clinic Care Network, our cancer experts have special access to Mayo Clinic specialists through virtual consultations and second opinions for complex cases. This ensures you receive the care you need, close to home, at no additional cost to you.

STAT Clinics bring multiple cancer specialists to the patient in one place on one day and can start treatment faster. After going through the STAT Clinic process, patients often comment on the personal attention from physicians and nurse navigators.

Awards & Accreditations

Our patients can rest assured that their care is the best. Our cancer program is nationally-recognized for providing the highest levels of care for cancer with these accreditations and awards:

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) Commission on Cancer (CoC) Accreditation, which also awarded Wellstar the Outstanding Achievement Award, the highest honor awarded to a cancer program in the United States
The Commission on Cancer (COC) Oncology Medical Home Accreditation Program for Northwest Georgia Oncology Centers
The GO² Foundation for Lung Cancer which named Wellstar a Care Continuum Center of Excellence
The American College of Radiology (ACR) which designated Wellstar a Lung Cancer Screening Center
The National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) through the American College of Surgeons

Our Care Team

Your care team will help you achieve optimum health and wellbeing from the time of diagnosis and beyond. We care for you physically, mentally and spiritually with a compassionate team, which can include oncology specialists, a certified oncology nurse navigator; a genetic counselor; an oncology-registered dietitian; an onco-psych team member such as a psychologist, psychiatrist or counselor; an oncology social worker, financial counselor; chaplain; or cancer rehabilitation specialist.

PeopleCare Stories

Frank and Llen Ryan on their front porch.

Frank&LlenCare

When you first glance at Frank and Ellenora "Llen" Ryan, the word "fighter" likely isn't the top quality that pops into mind.

Between the two of them, they have defeated cancer twice, overcome debilitating spine pain and triumphed over a cardiology episode. Now, they’re fighting Parkinson’s disease with the same energy, confidence and heart.

Read their story

Phyliss Davis standing in the atrium of the Fernbank Museum

PhylissCare

As the matriarch of her family, Phyliss Davis has always taken care of everyone before herself. Between a busy schedule and devoting time to her granddaughter Wynter, Phyliss made a habit of putting her own health on the back-burner.

Read her story

Our Services

Screening for Breast, Lung, Colorectal and Prostate Cancer

Our powerful screening and genetic assessment programs can help people identify cancer in earlier stages when it is most curable.

We use the most advanced cancer screening protocols and technology at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, health parks and imaging locations throughout our community.

Men can have their PSA levels checked by a urologist on a regular basis to screen for prostate cancer. To learn more about our cancer screening and genetic risk assessment programs, click on the links below:

Cancer Surgery

Surgeons are often the first cancer physician a person will see because they often perform diagnostic surgery to determine if someone has cancer. It’s important to have a highly experienced cancer surgeon, because they often perform life-saving cancer surgery for a variety of cancers. Wellstar Kennestone Hospital’s surgeons are historically the first in the region to offer minimally-invasive and other leading-edge procedures for many cancer disease types; have a high volume of experience; and serve as teachers of other subspecialists in their fields.

Our leading cancer surgeons offer patients a variety of minimally-invasive procedures including robotic surgery, laparoscopic surgery and Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS). Wellstar Kennestone’s surgeons are known for leading in various specialized complex procedures such as the robotic pancreatomy, the robotic Whipple and cytoreductive surgery with Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemoperfusion (HIPEC).

Learn more about cancer surgery at Wellstar

Radiation Therapy

We believe people with cancer deserve to have experienced radiation oncologists with access to the most advanced technology and techniques. Our specialists offer individualized care with state-of-the-art technology including CyberKnife, TrueBeam, TomoTherapy and high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy. These therapies precisely target cancer and spare healthy tissue anywhere in the body.

Wellstar Cancer Center at Kennestone Hospital is the only cancer treatment center in Atlanta with CyberKnife technology, and our team has the highest volume of CyberKnife experience in Georgia. CyberKnife enables us to perform stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). It can be used to treat cancers anywhere in the body.

While we can target every type of cancer with a variety of radiotherapy tools, our program offers treatments that are not widely available, such as a short-course SBRT for prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer. Patients can also have highly specialized HDR brachytherapy for skin cancer and gynecological cancers such as cervical, uterine and vaginal cancer.

For breast cancer, our program leads the state with the highest volume of experience in accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI). This faster radiation treatment option for women with early-stage breast cancer is delivered in just five days using HDR brachytherapy. Our modern equipment allows patients with breast cancer to lie prone – or chest-down – for treatment, which can decrease radiation exposure to the heart and lungs.

No matter what type of cancer you have, our specialists will offer you individualized care with state-of-the-art technology so you can get back to life.

Learn more about radiation therapy at Wellstar

Medical Oncology

With the largest team of medical oncologists in the Wellstar Cancer Network, our physicians have a high degree of specialization and experience in treating specific tumor types. We employ the latest in genetically-based biomarker testing and targeted therapies, immunotherapy and chemotherapy.

Led by knowledgeable medical oncologists, our Cancer Center is the hub for research and clinical trials to fight various types of cancer. We are known for providing groundbreaking treatments to patients, often years before FDA approval.

Patients find a higher level of comfort in the modern infusion center at the Wellstar Cancer Center at Kennestone Hospital. Semi-private bays, entertainment cabinets, dimmable lighting, motorized seating and automatic doors make the chemotherapy experience more comfortable. Our onsite pharmacy specializes in oncology and hematology drugs for patients’ convenience and is dual-accredited with oncology distinctions by URAC and ACHC, international accreditation organizations.

Because our patients are at the center of everything we do, we are currently redesigning our oncology offices and service areas to create the best patient experience. The renovation is slated for completion in 2021.

Learn more about medical oncology at Wellstar

STAT Clinics

Wellstar Kennestone Hospital’s leading cancer specialists created STAT Clinics, the most patient-centric care model. STAT Clinics bring you best-in-class multidisciplinary care. Here, the patient truly is at the center of a treatment plan and the physicians come to you. Patients and their families benefit from meeting multiple specialists on the same day, being involved in their diagnosis and treatment plan design, and ultimately, starting treatment faster. Visit our STAT Clinic pages to learn more:

Click the Tumor Boards tab to the left to learn about the specialized level of multidisciplinary care we provide for patients with a variety of cancers.

Tumor Boards at Kennestone: Specialized Multidisciplinary Care

At a typical tumor board conference, physicians come together to discuss a variety of cancer cases, ranging from breast cancer to brain cancer to rectal cancer and others. However, because Wellstar Kennestone Hospital is a high-volume cancer treatment center, our weekly tumor boards are subspecialized, focusing on specific cancer types which leads to better outcomes for patients. Physicians throughout the Wellstar footprint are able to present their cases at these subspecialized tumor boards as well.

Our multidisciplinary tumor boards are attended by every type of physician who has involvement with the patient to bring about the best possible care. They partner to review, diagnose and offer a consensus on personalized treatment. Patients benefit because these physicians see a higher volume of specific cancer types and have a higher level of experience and expertise. Our tumor board programs include:

General tumor boards for all cancers
Subspecialized tumor boards:
- Breast cancer
- Central nervous system (brain & spine tumors)
- Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer (colon cancer, rectal cancer, pancreas cancer, bile duct cancer and liver cancer)
- Gynecological cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Thoracic cancer (lung cancer, esophagus cancer, thymoma, mesothelioma)

Nurse navigation

Many patients at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital say they could not imagine care without their nurse navigator. Nurse navigators are registered nurses trained in specific clinical areas and bring a highly personalized level of guidance and support to each patient and family members from initial diagnosis through post-treatment follow up.

Cancer nutrition

Patients have the opportunity to meet with a trained cancer dietitian and develop a personalized dietary plan. Oncology registered-dietitians at Wellstar Kennestone help patients build and maintain their weight as they go through cancer treatment. Patients can attend healthy nutrition events in our modern demonstration kitchen with Wellstar’s dietitians and renowned chefs throughout the year.

The Wellstar Kennestone Cancer Center features the Calm Waters Café, providing healthy nutrition options to patients, patients’ families and team members for breakfast and lunch.

Oncology social worker

Your oncology-certified social worker at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital focuses on strategies to empower and improve your quality of life during treatment and beyond. Support from an oncology-certified social worker can include short-term counseling, groups and connections to psychological therapy. Cancer can affect many different parts of life, and we can help you adjust to your diagnosis. We provide guidance and education on how to share this information with your family, friends and community. Our social worker can also connect patients and families with community resources and help you navigate financial programs and services that may help you.

Psychiatric & psychological therapy

Wellstar Kennestone Hospital offers patients the opportunity to work with an oncology-trained psychologist, psychiatrist or counselor. These support team members can help patients, couples and families cope with cancer and treatment side effects as well as pre-existing conditions such as depression and anxiety.

Spiritual care

Recognizing that spirituality is an important part of healing and facing cancer, the cancer center at Kennestone houses the Rick Gray Family Chapel. The bright and modern space is a peaceful retreat where patients and their families can pray and spiritually recharge. Spiritual care is provided by chaplains from Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, who often meet with patients in the cancer center for support.

Peer support

Peer support is an important part of survivorship. A number of cancer-specific support groups give patients the opportunity to learn from others and share experiences. They benefit from staying emotionally healthy. Your nurse navigator can assist you in connecting with your peers.