By Peter Barhydt
To address the rising number of cancer cases in town and offer better care, Greenwich Hospital plans to
submit a new proposal for The Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Center to planning and zoning. The proposed facility will include approximately 56,000 square feet of space across three floors at the corner of Lafayette Place and Lake Avenue. Previously, they had proposed an 80,000 square foot facility at the same location.
In an exclusive interview with the Greenwich Sentinel, Greenwich Hospital President Diane P. Kelly, DNP, MBA, RN said, “while the rest of the world was looking at COVID, we were keeping our eye on the issue of cancer rising.”
According to data collected by the state of Connecticut’s cancer registry, approximately 3,000 residents of Greenwich and the immediately surrounding area are diagnosed with cancer each year. By 2029 they anticipate 15% growth in all cancer cases. For Greenwich alone, an 18% growth in cancer cases is expected.
Ms. Kelly added, “We are responding to the data that is telling us where our patients need us the most, and that is breast cancer; that’s lung cancer; that’s colorectal cancer; [and] GI cancer such as pancreatic cancer.”
The existing cancer center, located across the street from the proposed facility, is limited in space. Kelly noted that so much has changed in cancer treatment in just 5 years, that they need additional space to be able to provide comprehensive services.
The hospital said, “The new facility will offer state-of-the-art care through multiple infusion bays and innovative imaging and diagnostic capabilities. The new center is designed around the needs of patients with the goal of providing the most soothing environment possible. Multidisciplinary care teams will work together to coordinate patient care – easing the burden and scheduling demands on patients. Patients undergoing infusion treatment will have access to healing gardens where they can receive treatments.”
Dr. D. Barry Boyd, an Oncologist affiliated with Smilow Cancer Hospital, who has been practicing in Greenwich for 36 years told the Sentinel, “It isn’t about more patients. It is about better care for the patients.”
Currently, Greenwich patients may seek cancer treatments in New York City because those treatments are not offered in Greenwich. Traveling home afterwards can be physically debilitating. Often there is significant time and stress from having to make numerous trips which can hamper a patient’s recovery.
Dr. Boyd continued, “I always say the key about personalized medicine is person care. Personalized is the idea that we know more and more about the genomics of cancer, what drives tumors, the individual differences between the same appearing malignancy, and how much of our care is really devoted to specific subtypes of cancer.”
Person care is the concept of using integrative medicine, which promotes health by nurturing the delicate equilibrium between mind, body, and spirit through evidence-based conventional and complementary treatments and services.
The new Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Center will be able to provide the “person care” Dr. Boyd describes by offering a full spectrum of services from oncology to hematology to cancer diagnosis and treatments, as well as clinical trials. Additional services will include an on-site specialty pharmacy, survivorship programs, and social services support.
“It’s an incredible place for people in Greenwich to be able to come and not feel they need to go elsewhere, that they get here safely, have safe care, and have all of these services. Our fundamental goal is to provide a higher level of care in a more integrative center” Dr. Boyd added speaking of the proposed facility.
Yonni Wattenmaker, Executive Director of the Breast Cancer Alliance, is supportive saying: “We know the exceptional breast cancer care they already offer Greenwich and its surrounding communities. To be able to extend their services with a new, state-of-the-art facility is exciting and will enhance the lives of so many.”
“At Greenwich Hospital we are fortunate to be a part of the Yale New Haven Health System, which allows us to have access to the most advanced research and treatment options for our patients, which are then delivered at a local level with personalized care by our extraordinary teams of highly skilled and committed individuals,” said Rob Berkeley, Greenwich resident and chair of the Greenwich Hospital Board of Trustees. “Our new Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Center will enable us to focus this expertise on the eradication of a disease that continues to impact us all, while dramatically improving not just the quality of life, but the outcomes, for a broader segment of our community.”
In addressing a question about how the neighbors will view the new proposal, Ms. Kelly said: “I hope the neighbors will hear why this is so important. We have worked very hard to make changes while maintaining the integrity of this building, to do what it is intended to do.”
She said they have listened and “we have made modifications. We have made alterations to our processes. We are working hard to be good neighbors.”
The hospital is holding a public town hall Thursday, March 24th to present their plans to the community. They plan to submit in April to planning and zoning
