Patient Care
Construction Begins on the Ann and Carl Myers Cancer Center
UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Institute and Noyes Health, Jones Memorial Hospital and UR Medicine Radiation Oncology celebrated the start of construction today on a regional cancer center based in Dansville, Livingston County.
The Ann and Carl Myers Cancer Center will be located on the campus of Noyes Hospital and provide patients in the Finger Lakes, Southern Tier and Western New York more convenient access to comprehensive cancer care. It will serve as a hub for oncology services, and it includes a medical oncology clinic at Jones Memorial Hospital in Wellsville, Allegany County, and a UR Medicine Radiation Oncology clinic in Hornell, Steuben County.
Established with a $2 million gift from Ann and Carl Myers of Springwater, Livingston County, the regional cancer center at Noyes is expected to be completed by the end of 2016. The $5.8 million project will feature a 4,500-square-foot, lower-level addition to house a radiation oncology clinic and a 2,300-square-foot medical oncology clinic, featuring three exam rooms and five chemotherapy/infusion bays, in renovated and new first-floor space.
“Celebrating the groundbreaking of the Ann and Carl Myers Cancer Center here at Noyes Health with our partners, UR Medicine, Wilmot Cancer Institute and Jones Memorial Hospital, is a very special event,” said Amy Pollard, president and CEO of Noyes Health System. “It is the official start of construction on the project that will bring a regional, comprehensive cancer program to the Finger Lakes and Southern Tier through partnership and collaboration. I would like to thank Ann and Carl Myers for taking the philanthropic lead on this important project and for their history of support of Noyes Health.”
Although construction is just beginning at Noyes, the project is already having an impact on the region. UR Medicine Radiation Oncology in Hornell has been operating since December, and the medical oncology clinic at Jones Memorial Hospital opened last month.
“Today’s groundbreaking and the work underway on the Ann and Carl Myers Cancer Center are a major step toward ensuring that patients and families in this region have access to state-of-the-art, comprehensive cancer care,” said Jonathan W. Friedberg, M.D., M.M.Sc., director of Wilmot Cancer Institute. “This would not be possible without the collaboration of the teams at the region’s hospitals, and we are deeply grateful for the support of the communities in Dansville, Wellsville and Hornell.”
Each year, approximately 4,000 patients travel from Allegany, Livingston and Steuben counties to Wilmot Cancer Institute for outpatient oncology care. They often make daily or weekly trips over a period of months to receive radiation and/or chemotherapy. The Myers Cancer Center will help alleviate the strain of traveling an hour or more for care.
“This is a very exciting project. A regional cancer center will bring the expertise and cutting edge therapy of the Wilmot Cancer Institute closer to home for the nearly 600 people from Allegany County who travel to Rochester each year for care,” said Eva Benedict, CEO at Jones Memorial. “With a medical oncology clinic in Wellsville, a radiation oncology clinic in Hornell, and radiation and infusion services at the Ann and Carl Myers Cancer Center in Dansville, the burden of traveling for follow-up care and treatment will be relieved.”
The regional cancer center will also provide patients with access to services including advanced diagnostic testing, clinical trials, outpatient palliative care, and Wilmot Cancer Institute’s Judy DiMarzo Cancer Survivorship Program. Physicians at the cancer center, the radiation oncology clinic in Hornell and the medical oncology clinic at Jones will have access to UR Medicine’s region-wide electronic medical record system and regular consultations with multidisciplinary teams focused on cancer.
This cancer center project is unique in our region and comes at a time when health systems across the country are forging relationships to ensure specialty services while improving quality.
“This collaboration demonstrates a commitment to providing high-quality health care services in our region and to finding innovative ways to ensure those services are accessible no matter where patients live,” said Mark Taubman,CEO of the University of Rochester Medical Center and UR Medicine and dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry. “Projects like this are essential to improving the health of our communities, and we are proud to work together with Noyes, Jones and St. James Mercy Hospital in Hornell to meet the needs of this region.”
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UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Institute is the Finger Lakes region’s leader for cancer care and research. As a component of Strong Memorial Hospital, Wilmot Cancer Institute provides specialty cancer care services at the University of Rochester Medical Center and a network of locations throughout the region. The Institute also includes a team of 100 scientists who investigate many aspects of cancer, with an emphasis on how best to provide precision cancer care. To learn more, visit wilmot.urmc.edu.
Jones Memorial Hospital is a 70-bed full-service, acute care community hospital located in southwestern New York State. Fully accredited by The Joint Commission, Jones Memorial serves all of Allegany County as well as western Steuben County and northern Potter County, Pa. Find out more at www.jmhny.org.
Noyes Health is a diverse and comprehensive healthcare system which includes Nicholas H. Noyes Memorial Hospital, a 67-bed facility in Dansville, Noyes Health Services in Geneseo, Noyes Kidney and Dialysis Center in Geneseo, and Noyes Mental Health Services in Dansville. Noyes Health is accredited by the Joint Commission and serves all of Livingston County and parts of Steuben, Allegany and Ontario Counties. Nicholas H. Noyes Memorial Hospital is a community hospital and the only Emergency Department in Livingston County, located right off Interstate 390 Exit 4. For more information about Noyes Health, visit www.noyes-health.org.
St. James Mercy Hospital, founded in 1890 and based in Hornell, is a not-for-profit health organization that provides care in Steuben and surrounding counties, with emphasis on the poor and underserved. For more information, visit www.stjamesmercy.org.