Westchester Medical Center Opens New Outpatient Oncology Center in Partnership with Memorial Sloan Kettering

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Westchester Medical Center (WMC) today announced the opening of its new 5,300-square-foot outpatient Infusion Center, ushering in a new partnership with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), whose staff will provide outpatient cancer care and infusion services.

“We are very excited about this new and unique partnership with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center,” said WMC President and CEO Michael Israel. “We have made an important investment in opening a state-of-the-art facility for the benefit of our oncology patients. WMC has a long history of providing groundbreaking oncology care and treatment within the walls of our hospitals. Memorial Sloan Kettering is a natural partner in further developing our outpatient program to complement the fine inpatient work that we do.”

“This is a new approach for Memorial Sloan Kettering,” said Craig B. Thompson, MD, President of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, who notes that this is the first time the cancer center has entered into an agreement like this. “Westchester Medical Center’s vision and distinguished history in the region make it an excellent partner as we work together to meet the outpatient cancer care needs of this community.”

Under the service agreement, Memorial Sloan Kettering will provide clinical services as well as broad day-to-day oversight and staffing for the program. Michael Fanucchi, MD, who is a medical oncologist on staff at both Memorial Sloan Kettering and Westchester Medical Center, will serve as Medical Director of the Infusion Center, which will provide chemotherapy, biotherapy and other infusion therapies, medications and blood and blood products developed through a dedicated on-site pharmacy, as well as consultation, evaluation and management of patients

Dr. Fanucchi trained at Memorial Sloan Kettering and has held senior leadership positions in cancer centers at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, and St. Vincent’s Medical Center in New York.

The Infusion Center will have a total of nine staff from Memorial Sloan Kettering including a nurse manager, three oncology nurses and three pharmacists. Patients treated at the new facility will remain patients of Westchester Medical Center.

Located adjacent to many other outpatient programs and services at 19 Bradhurst Avenue in Hawthorne, the new Center has the capability to treat up to 12 adult patients at a time, with ten private cubicles and a private room all within view of the Nurses’ Station and each equipped with a recliner and television. The WMC Infusion Center will operate from to , Monday through Friday.

Westchester Medical Center’s oncology program is accredited, with distinction, by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. Its dedicated 42-bed adult inpatient unit serves patients undergoing treatment for various forms of cancers and hematologic malignancies. In addition, Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center is a major pediatric oncology center with an emphasis on patients needing bone marrow or stem cell transplants, supported by a state-of-the art Stem and Cellular Therapy Laboratory.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s Regional Network provides outpatient cancer care at suburban locations in New Jersey, Long Island and Westchester, including Sleepy Hollow and a facility under construction in Harrison, which will involve further collaborative initiatives between Memorial Sloan Kettering and Westchester Medical Center when it opens.