Breast cancer surgeons and other experts describe the many benefits of receiving cancer care at a single facility – the Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Breast and Imaging Center (BAIC) on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
Breast Surgical Service Chief Monica Morrow explains that visiting the BAIC spares patients and their families the need to travel to multiple locations for care, helping to ease some of the anxiety associated with a new cancer diagnosis.
Mike Harbison, the BAIC’s radiology manager, notes the building’s hospitality-focused features, from well-lit waiting areas to carefully selected art and comfortable seating. The experience is likely to be a better one, he explains, when patients can get the answers they need, and treatment they need, in a fairly easy and rapid manner – and in a relatively nonclinical environment.
BAIC Director of Radiology Maxine Jochelson details the benefits of being able to see multiple experts in radiology, medical oncology, surgery, and more in one visit. At the BAIC, these specialists work as a team in caring for each patient, commonly consulting with one another since they are in such close physical proximity. Diana Mott, a registered nurse, emphasizes the convenience of a facility in which a mammogram can be done in the same building that treatment is provided, for example.
“Our physical building is the embodiment of our belief that your breast cancer team is really a group of individuals working together for you,” Dr. Morrow explains. “So starting with a team who can take care of your needs from the beginning is the way to get the best possible cancer care.”
