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OFFERING THE ONLY CANCER PROGRAM IN CENTRAL NEW YORK ACCREDITED BY THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS COMMISSION ON CANCER, UPSTATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY IS INTEGRATING ONCOLOGY CARE UNDER ONE ROOF. THIS BEAUTIFUL NEW SETTING PROVIDES SOPHISTICATED MEDICAL TREATMENTS AND EXTENSIVE PATIENT AND FAMILY RESOURCES. New Upstate Cancer Center Brings Together Treatment, Services and Multidisciplinary Care By Jennifer Webster T HE NEW UPSTATE CANCER CENTER will provide comprehensive diag- nosis and treatment for adults and children with cancer and blood disorders. It was designed using patient- and family-centered care principles so patients will have one location for almost all of their outpatient oncology needs. The Center will house Upstate's departments of radiation oncology, medical oncology and pediatric oncology, as well as dedicated multidisciplinary space for surgical oncol- ogy. Family and patient services — including a meditation area, boutique and the Family Resource Center — are now close to consult and treatment areas. Leslie Kohman, MD, Medical Director of Upstate Cancer Center and Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Surgery, summarizes the need for the Upstate Cancer Center. "While we have great cancer services at Upstate, we needed to optimize how we coordinate and co-locate them," she says. "We needed a single building to focus our efforts — one where oncology patients and families could access services, and practitioners from many disciplines could easily work together." Centralized Care The Jour nal of Clinical Oncolog y projects the incidence of cancer to increase 45 percent over the next 20 years, including a 99 percent increase among minorities. The Upstate Cancer Center is preparing for the future. "The healthcare environment has changed, especially in the treatment of can- cer," says Richard Kilburg, MBA, Associate Administrator. "We work together across disciplines, rather than segregating care by department. For example, if a patient has breast cancer, a medical oncologist, radiation oncologist and surgeon may come together to plan the best therapy. We needed the physical structure to match what we were beginning to accomplish organizationally." He notes that multidisciplinary programs include the long-standing breast, bone mar- row transplant and thoracic programs, as well as programs for hepatobiliary, head and neck, colorectal, Mohs surgery, and gynecologic oncology. "Through the Cancer Center, patients can arrange multiple appointments in the same building on the same day," Dr. Kohman adds. "They can see physicians from radiation, medical and surgical oncology, as well as counselors, patient navigators and social workers. Additionally, the physicians who treat our patients will find it easier to speak with genetic and fertility counselors, certified nutritionists, rehabilitation special- ists, psychiatric oncologists, clinical trials administrators, and anyone else involved in their patients' care, when all these profes- sionals are housed under one roof." Soon, Dr. Kohman says, on-site patient navigators will be available to help patients coordinate their appointments and care. The new Cancer Center at Upstate is housed in a 90,000-square-foot, LEED-silver-certified building. COV ER FE AT UR E IMAGES © UPSTATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY 6 | Central New York MD NEWS ■ M D N E W S . CO M