AUBURN, N.Y. — After breaking ground on its new cancer center back in November, Auburn Community Hospital is moving forward with $2 million in federal funding for the project. The hospital will also utilize a portion of the money to buy medical equipment for cancer diagnostics. The $2 million is part of the end-of-year spending […]
AUBURN, N.Y. — After breaking ground on its new cancer center back in November, Auburn Community Hospital is moving forward with $2 million in federal funding for the project.
The hospital will also utilize a portion of the money to buy medical equipment for cancer diagnostics.
The $2 million is part of the end-of-year spending package, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) announced on Dec. 22.
“Auburn Community Hospital will soon have a modern, state-of-the art cancer treatment center, and now thanks to funding we secured in the federal budget they will purchase lifesaving medical equipment — like a new PET-CT Scanner,” Schumer said in a release. “Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in Cayuga County and this new center will be a one-stop shop to help patients get the top-notch care they need in their own community.”
The senators explained that Auburn Community Hospital (ACH) is building a new 12,000-square-foot cancer center that broke ground in November. As of now, 80 percent of residents in Cayuga County have to travel more than 25 miles for medical-oncology services. The expansion will add radiation-oncology services and many other lifesaving cancer treatments and diagnostic services closer to home for area residents, Schumer’s office said.
“This funding will allow ACH to purchase state-of- the-art medical technology and make building improvements that will support our new cancer center,” Scott Berlucchi, president and CEO of Auburn Community Hospital, said in Schumer’s release. “The new cancer center will provide necessary care for the leading cause of premature death in Cayuga County. The center will provide essential care for the local community that they would otherwise have to travel long distances for and will increase employment.”
The federal funding Schumer and Gillibrand secured as a congressionally directed spending request in the fiscal year 2023 (FY23) budget will help support and facilitate this new expansion. Specifically, it will assist the hospital with key infrastructure and renovations like adding critical new parking spots to accommodate the increased patient load, as well as help purchase a new PET-CT Scanner for pre-diagnostic testing. The PET-CT scanner will allow doctors, especially cancer surgeons, to determine the exact location of a tumor in relation to an organ or spinal column.