In a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by hospital leadership, staff, local elected officials, community members, and patients, Mount Sinai Queens officially opened its newly renovated Infusion Center on Friday, February 27, a long-anticipated event that brings cancer expertise and the latest medical treatment directly to the borough.
The Mount Sinai Queens Infusion Center, an extension of The Tisch Cancer Institute at The Mount Sinai Hospital, offers patients a wide range of transfusion services and infusion treatments for cancer, blood diseases, and benign rheumatologic disorders in a comfortable outpatient setting. It is located across the street from the main hospital in Astoria, Queens. The Center’s medical team, trained in medical oncology and hematology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, can securely share electronic patient records with colleagues throughout the Mount Sinai Health System to provide timely, high-quality care.
Mount Sinai Queens is additionally undergoing a $125 million hospital expansion and modernization project, scheduled to be completed in 2016, which includes a new six-story building adjacent to the main hospital that will house an expanded Emergency Department, new operating suites, an integrated outpatient physician medical practice, and advanced imaging and laboratory services.
“When it comes to providing comprehensive outpatient cancer care, Mount Sinai is second to none, and this newly renovated Center is just the latest example of our commitment to patients and their families during the most difficult fight of their lives,” said Caryn A. Schwab, Executive Director of Mount Sinai Queens, during the dedication ceremony.
The Center features seven private infusion bays with ample seating for family members, flat screen televisions, WiFi, upgraded patient exam rooms, and a patient nutrition area. The updated waiting area has broad bay windows and an open plan interior decorated in soothing earth tones.
“The Infusion Center epitomizes quality care and is an integral part of The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai,” said Luis Isola, MD, Director of Cancer Care Programs for the Mount Sinai Health System.
“It also fills a need for the community,” added Howard Greenberg, MD, Associate Chief of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Mount Sinai Queens, and Director of the Infusion Center. “It allows me and my colleagues, including Dr. Che-Kai Tsao, and our expert medical, nursing, and support staff, to provide a level of cancer care usually seen only in tertiary-care hospitals in one easy-to-access location, right here in Queens.” Both Dr. Greenberg and Che-Kai Tsao, MD, are Assistant Professors of Medicine (Hematology/Medical Oncology) at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Attendees included New York State Senator Michael Gianaris; New York State Assembly Member Aravella Simotas; and New York City Council Members Costa Constantinides and Jimmy Van Bramer, the City Council Majority leader. “Because of Mount Sinai Queens, people in this community no longer have to go through tunnels or cross bridges to receive world-class treatment and care,” said Ms. Simotas.