UVA Community Health Breast Center
UVA Community Health Breast Center
Founding Physician
The UVA Community Health Breast Center is located about 40 miles west of Washington, D.C. in Haymarket, Virginia and serves the Northern Virginia area. It was created through the vision of breast surgeon John P. Williams, MD, other breast cancer specialists and the free-standing UVA Cancer Center (radiation center), located in nearby Gainesville, Virginia.
The Breast Center attained national accreditation in 2010 and serves the women of the region by providing state-of-the-art breast cancer treatment. It is the community’s focal point in improving access to breast care services. Dr Williams served as medical director from 2009 through 2018.
In 2008, Dr. Williams brought together the region’s breast cancer specialists to create its first prospective, multidisciplinary treatment group. High quality cancer care requires physicians to work together as a team. This multidisciplinary approach is essential in treating each patient who is diagnosed with breast cancer.
Our team of breast cancer specialists includes many fields of medicine; Breast Surgery, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Breast Radiology, Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, and Pathology. In 2009, our “Multidisciplinary Team” was enthusiastically received by our patients and the community for providing quality, patient-centered care.
Dr. Williams formally proposed to create a nationally accredited Breast Center in 2009. His goal was to obtain NAPBC Breast Center accreditation quickly and hire a Breast Patient Navigator to assist those afflicted with this disease in the community. A sustainable business model was created to assure that the community would benefit from a Breast Center for decades to come
If a Multidisciplinary Team is the foundation of a breast center, its heart is the Breast Patient Navigator. This special person walks a woman through the many steps of breast cancer care with a special focus on the whole person. The first navigator, Jackie Glenn, took this position in 2010 and was instrumental in shaping the Breast Center into what it is today. Today, Laurie Rudolph, RN navigates patients through the complex steps of breast cancer treatment for the UVA Community Health Breast Center. Dr. Williams was the Medical Director and Chairman of the Interdisciplinary Breast Conference from 2010 to 2018 and returned to that position in 2021.
The National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) specifies that breast cancer surgeons play the central role in breast cancer treatment and in running quality-oriented breast centers. Breast surgeons and radiologists are the first to biopsy and tell a patient that they have cancer. Surgeons guide them through their diagnosis, initial treatment options, surgical options and then focus on providing the best cancer and cosmetic outcomes possible.
The UVA Community Health Breast Center was awarded full accreditation by the NAPBC in 2010. The visiting NAPBC surveyor in 2010 specifically highlighted Dr. Williams’ breast center leadership in his accreditation assessment. This was a major personal and professional achievement for Dr. Williams. The Breast Center was fully reaccredited again in 2013, 2016 and 2019. Generations of women in the Northern Virginia community will benefit from this collective effort in the future.
