Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Opens Suffolk Outpatient Center

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Monday, 24 June 2002

Long Island Presence & Services Are Substantial

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) will open its first freestanding outpatient facility today, bringing the number of its regional care sites to six.

The Suffolk Outpatient Center, a newly constructed 50,000-square foot building located in Commack, Long Island, represents a fundamental transformation in the delivery of cancer care as advances in cancer treatment and technology allow patients to receive more of their treatment on an outpatient basis.

"The opening of the Suffolk Outpatient Center marks an important milestone in our commitment to providing the highest quality outpatient care in a growing network of regional care centers. We are replicating a very successful model of outpatient cancer care, based on years of experience of our expert medical staff, and making it more accessible to patients," said MSKCC President Harold Varmus, MD.

The Suffolk Outpatient Center's close-to-home location offers the highest standards of comprehensive cancer care delivered by MSKCC's clinicians in a comfortable setting. Services include cancer diagnosis, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgical consultations, as well as cancer screening. Some aspects of a patient's care, such as inpatient admission and surgical procedures requiring general anesthesia, will continue to be performed at MSKCC's hospital in Manhattan. Most patients will be able to have pre- and post-surgical appointments and follow-up care at the regional site.

"The Suffolk Outpatient Center combines the best cancer treatment available, with easier access," said Robert Wittes, MD, Memorial Hospital Physician-in-Chief. "The medical staff reflects the unparalleled expertise of Memorial Sloan-Kettering cancer care with a full complement of modern technology," he said.

Imaging technology at the Suffolk Outpatient Center includes a CT (computed tomography) scanner, digital x-ray, mammography, stereotactic mammography, and ultrasound. The CT simulator and two state-of-the-art linear accelerators map and deliver intensity-modulated radiation beams, which enhance the precision of radiation therapy while reducing radiation exposure to healthy tissue.

In addition, patients can receive chemotherapy treatment in a soothing environment where the nurses and staff know and understand the concerns of cancer patients and their families. Because the staff's sole focus is cancer, patients can be sure that their treatment will reflect the most advanced knowledge about how to treat and live with cancer.

The center will employ some 60 people, including 12 physicians, many of whom live on Long Island. 35,000 outpatient visits are expected annually.

"The starting point of everything designed at the Suffolk Outpatient Center is the enhancement of the patient healing process -- and that begins the moment you enter the site," said James Harden, Executive Director, MSKCC Regional Care Network.

A winding drive leads to the property, wooded at the periphery and garden-like and tranquil at the center. A 12-foot-long aquarium greets patients as they enter the building, and walls are covered in colorful slate. Natural light spills into the public areas through floor-to-ceiling windows framing the gardens, and an outdoor porch is available for use by patients and their families. The facility, located on 11 acres on Commack Road, can be easily reached from the Long Island Expressway, the Northern State Parkway and the Sagtikos Parkway on Long Island.

MSKCC's commitment of outpatient care for cancer patients on Long Island did not begin with the Suffolk site. Rather, it has evolved steadily over the past five years, with MSKCC providing services first at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre and then in Hauppauge. Here is an update on those sites:

MSK at Mercy

MSK at Mercy Medical Center has provided radiation oncology and medical oncology services to Long Island residents since 1997. Recently, MSKCC completed substantial renovations to its radiation therapy center, making the site more inviting and patient friendly. The center has also recently added two new, state-of-the-art linear accelerators, which map and deliver intensity-modulated radiation beams and enhance the precision of radiation therapy while reducing radiation exposure to healthy tissue. This year, the three full-time radiation oncologists and three full-time medical oncologists will handle more than 30,000 patient visits.

MSKCC's medical oncology unit will double its space when it moves into a new office building, expected to open in 2003, on the Mercy Medical Center campus.

MSK at Hauppauge

While much of the staff and services at the Hauppauge facility will move to the new Suffolk Outpatient Center, dermatology services will remain and expand. Ashfaq Marghoob, MD, a nationally recognized skin cancer expert, is expected to be joined by a board-certified Mohs surgeon, and the dermatology office space will double in size. Mohs surgery, used primarily to treat squamous- and basal-cell carcinomas, allows the surgeon to pinpoint and remove cancerous tissue while leaving the healthy skin intact.

For more information, or to contact Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, see their website at: www.mskcc.org