Tampa General Hospital Receives FACT Accreditation in Continued Commitment to World-Class, Innovative Cancer Care

FACT Accreditation represents a gold seal of quality and safety in the world of stem cell transplant and cellular therapy.

Tampa, Fla. (September 5, 2025) – As they continue to bring leading-edge cancer care to the region, Tampa General Hospital (TGH) and the TGH Cancer Institute have been awarded accreditation by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT), a testament to the academic health system’s commitment to clinical excellence, innovation and patient safety in stem cell transplant and cellular therapy.

FACT is a nonprofit organization that establishes standards for high-quality medical and laboratory practice in cellular therapies, transplantation of living cells into the body. Receiving the FACT accreditation assures that a program meets internationally recognized standards, uses the best practices in patient care, cell collection, processing and administration. The accreditation is recognized by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies, The Joint Commission and international societies.

“Tampa General is honored to be recognized by FACT,” said Dr. Eduardo Sotomayor, vice president and executive director of the TGH Cancer Institute. “As a leading academic health system, we are always striving to provide innovative treatments to our patients. This accreditation signifies our efforts as we continue to develop the Cancer Institute into a world-class, research-driven resource for cancer patients.”

The TGH Cancer Institute’s cellular therapy program consists of immune effector cell therapy, such as Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy (an immunological treatment during which the body’s own immune T cells are modified and used to find and kill cancer cells) and stem cell transplant to treat patients with aggressive blood cancers, including lymphomas, multiple myeloma and leukemias.

Dr. Ivan Borrello, hematologist oncologist, physician-scientist and medical director of the Myeloma, Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) and Cell Therapies program within the TGH Cancer Institute, has been leading BMT and CAR T therapies since he joined Tampa General in 2022 from Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center in Baltimore.

“As we work to develop options for patients with complex cancers, we have been focused on offering novel immune-based therapies to elevate the Bone Marrow Transplant and Cell Therapies Unit into a nationally and internationally recognized program,” said Borrello. “It is amazing to be recognized by FACT for our rigor and efforts to achieve excellence in our health system.”

A team of dedicated cell therapy nurses, practitioners and social workers cares for patients in two settings — a dedicated inpatient BMT unit and the outpatient Cellular-Immunotherapy Transplant Unit.

“This milestone not only affirms TGH’s leadership in cellular therapy but also offers patients the assurance that their care is delivered with exceptional expertise, precision and compassion,” said Dr. Abraham Schwarzberg, executive vice president, chief of Oncology, president of the Tampa General Provider Network (TGPN) and co-vice president of Clinical and Translational Research, TGH-USF Health Office of Clinical Research.

One of the few Florida cancer centers backed by academic medicine, in partnership with the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the TGH Cancer Institute ranks among the nation’s top 10% of U.S. hospitals by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals 2025-2026. The Cancer Institute provides comprehensive care via groundbreaking therapies, advanced diagnostic imaging tools and a highly coordinated, interdisciplinary approach to world-class patient care. It is certified by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer Accreditation and by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) for meeting the strict standards required by the society’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) program and has been named among America’s Best Cancer Hospitals by Newsweek. For more information about the TGH Cancer Institute, visit www.tgh.org/cancer.