SYRACUSE — St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center has set up a 16-bed oncology unit dedicated to cancer care.
The new oncology unit consists of eight private rooms and four semi-private rooms. It also has a family waiting room and reception area.
“The unit includes the new medication cabinets and infection-control closets that will be included in our new patient tower when it is built,” Gael Gilbert, a registered nurse who is St. Joseph’s director of maternal child, behavioral health inpatient, and oncology services, said in a news release. “In addition, the technology the clinical staff is using is brand new. We’re adding the equipment to many of our new areas as they are renovated or built.”
Before the oncology unit’s opening, which took place Oct. 29, St. Joseph’s did not have a dedicated section of the hospital to house cancer patients. Instead, it placed them in a unit not dedicated to cancer care. It treats over 1,000 cancer patients each year.
The nonprofit hospital and health-care system has 431 beds and serves patients in Onondaga County and 15 surrounding counties. It is affiliated with Franciscan Companies and is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis.
Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com