Upstate Medical University formally opens new cancer center in Verona

VERONA, N.Y. — Syracuse’s Upstate Medical University on Tuesday formally opened its new Upstate Cancer Center at Verona.

The center is expected to see its first patients in October, Upstate Medical said in a release.

The location of the Cancer Center at Verona, at the intersection of Routes 365 and 31, is “important and came about after a long search,” the medical school said.

“We’ve been serving this community for almost 30 years and we wanted to bring the next generation of cancer care to this region, so we’ve been planning for a long while to make this happen,” Dr. Robert Corona, CEO of Upstate University Hospital, said in the release.

More than 150 people attended the formal-opening event, which included tours of the 30,000-square-foot Upstate Cancer Center.

The new center includes expanded diagnostic and treatment services and spaces for all cancers. It will provide medical oncology, radiation therapy, surgical subspecialties, radiology, laboratory, pharmacy, and consultative services.

Its services also include the Varian TrueBeam, a radiotherapy system that helps deliver “powerful cancer treatments with pinpoint accuracy,” Upstate Medical University contends.

The center is located on land belonging to the Oneida Indian Nation, making it the “first time in history” that an Indian nation and New York State have worked together to build a medical facility for an entire region on Indian lands, Upstate Medical University said, citing the Oneida Indian Nation.

Oneida Indian Nation Representative Ray Halbritter, CEO of Oneida Nation Enterprises, presented a leather medicine bag made by Nation representatives to Corona and credited several people with making the opportunity possible.