ONEIDA, N.Y. — Buffalo–based Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and Oneida Health have formally opened the Dorothy G. Griffin Radiation Oncology Center on the Oneida Health campus.
It represents the “next step in expanding the reach” of the Roswell Park Care Network, which launched in May, the organizations said in a joint news release. Roswell Park is a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center.
“Today marks another important step in Oneida Health and Roswell Park’s collaborative effort to provide a high quality of cancer care services to the residents of Central New York,” Gene Morreale, president and CEO of Oneida Health, said in the release. “With the addition of radiation oncology we will now be able to provide patients with more comprehensive treatment options, close to home. Patients will benefit from state-of-the-art diagnosis, local access to NCI cancer-care guidelines, and the latest treatment options from a comprehensive cancer center ranked among the top 3 percent in the nation.”
The New York State Department of Health in 2016 awarded Oneida Healthcare a $6.75 million grant to expand oncology services in Central New York in partnership with Roswell Park.
Regional donors have further supported the state grant with contributions of more than $2.3 million to the project over the past two years. The donations include $1 million from the Dorothy G. Griffin Charitable Foundation.
About the center
The completed radiation-oncology center includes four exam rooms, a consultation room, a CT scanner, a Truebeam linear accelerator for radiation therapy, and required support facilities.
Dr. Shilpa Vyas, Roswell Park radiation oncologist, along with a Roswell Park medical dosimetrist and medical physicists provide the center’s clinical and quality management.
Dr. Vyas and her colleagues will follow Roswell Park’s “quality standards,” which include evidence-based and peer-reviewed radiation-treatment plans; availability of all treatment options; and adherence to guidelines that “carefully control radiation doses to improve patient outcomes and quality of life,” the release explained.
A team of Roswell Park radiation oncologists will review every patient’s radiation treatment plan. In addition, all staff based in Oneida will be trained on Roswell Park standards.
The center joins an established medical-oncology center that Roswell Park and Oneida Health jointly operate on Oneida’s campus under the medical direction of Dr. Mohamed el-Naghy. Oneida Health is also currently in the process of expanding its outpatient Alice M. Gorman Imaging Center to provide services to its cancer patients.
“Our growing collaboration means patients are going to receive tailor-made care that our patients in Buffalo receive, but right in their backyard. They won’t have to travel far to know that they are being treated following the same care standards of a comprehensive cancer center. We are grateful to have a quality partner like Oneida Health that allows us to expand the reach of our evidence-based radiation medicine care delivery to the Oneida region,” Candace Johnson, president and CEO of Roswell Park, said.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com