Virginia Vaitones, Oncology Social Worker, To Become President of the Association of Community Cancer Centers

ROCKVILLE, Md. – Virginia Vaitones, MSW, OSW-C, will become President of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) at its 39th Annual National Meeting on March 7, 2013. Ms. Vaitones works at PenBay Medical Center in Rockport, Maine, as an oncology social worker.

"I am honored to serve as President of the Association of Community Cancer Centers," said Ms. Vaitones. "I am a strong believer in the interdisciplinary team that is needed in today’s cancer care programs to assist our patients and their caregivers navigate the complexities of their care. I can think of no other organization that understands and supports the ideas and programs of the interdisciplinary team better than ACCC."

Ms. Vaitones first became involved with ACCC in 2002. She has been active on the Program, Guidelines, and Governmental Affairs Committees. Ms. Vaitones also served on the committee that developed ACCC's patient navigation resource materials, and most recently served on the advisory boards for ACCC’s Financial Information and Learning Network and Improving Quality Care in Small-Population Cancers: Multiple Myeloma project.

She is a past president of the Association of Oncology Social Work (AOSW) and represents AOSW at the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (CoC). Ms. Vaitones was involved in the writing and updating of the CoC’s Cancer Program Standards 2012: Ensuring Patient-Centered Care.She completed her graduate work at Simmons College School of Social Work in Boston, Massachusetts, and has worked in the field of oncology for 35 years.

"ACCC, as the only interdisciplinary organization for cancer programs, is uniquely positioned to be the voice for the entire oncology team," said Ms. Vaitones. "During my term, I plan to continue ACCC’s important work shaping policy at the federal level to ensure quality patient care and to support our interdisciplinary oncology workforce."