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General News: Cancer Center Seeks State Approval
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| A drawing of the new cancer center, with the existing hospital on the right. |
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| Local, state and county leaders took part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the new cancer center in June. |
September 24, 2008
The new cancer care and treatment center at St; Luke’s Cornwall Hospital may be under construction but officials there are still awaiting approval from the New York state department of health to operate it. And one of the people pushing the state to thoroughly examine the need for the new facility is New York State Assemblywoman Nancy Calhoun.
At a hearing held on September 18 in Albany, members of a projects review committee of the State Hospital Review and Planning Council heard two people from the Cornwall area who questioned the need for the cancer care center at St. Luke’s Cornwall hospital.
Dr. Uma Mishra, who runs the Orange County Radiation Oncology office on Route 9W in Cornwall and whose business would be significantly impacted by the new cancer treatment center, asked the council to review the whole project, including the new partnership that was formed to build the cancer center. “Look at the impact on the community, the hospitals and the practitioners that are right in the lap of these two hospitals,” he said.
The current quality of cancer treatment care in the greater Cornwall area was addressed by Dr. Mishra who said that 90 percent of the patients who come to his radiation practice stay. The remaining ten percent, he said, seek treatment at Sloan Kettering or Columbia Presbyterian hospitals in New York City. Earlier, St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital CEO Allan Aztrott told the council that his wife had been advised to seek her cancer treatment outside of the area.
Everett Smith, the publisher of The Sentinal newspaper and a cancer survivor, praised the treatment he received from existing cancer treatment specialists in the Cornwall area, including Dr. Mishra.
“With five medical oncology centers in the community and the radiation oncology only a half mile away from the proposed hospital, I fail to see a need for the proposed facility,” Smith told the board. Smith also said that if the new cancer treatment center treats too many Medicare patients, its financial health could be weakened.
Smith said that he spoke at the hearing only because Assemblywoman Nancy Calhoun was out of town. He noted that Calhoun had a conversations with health officials on the subject.
In a phone interview, Calhoun said that she earlier told the department of health that it needs to review whether the proposed center is duplicating services that already exist, like Dr. Mishra’s radiation practice.
“We don’t say should or shouldn’t,” Calhoun said. “We’re concerned that we are taking an established business person and putting him out of business by bringing in New York doctors.” Dr. Michael Wesson, an oncologist who is a partner with St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in the new venture, practices in New Jersey and has practiced at Memorial Sloan Kettering and Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.
Two of the review committee members seemed to be grappling with whether or not there was a real need for the cancer center at St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital’s Cornwall campus. Paul Macielak noted that the hospital projects 5,000 to 6,250 visits to the new center each year and wondered how that would impact the other radiation and oncology providers. “People here today are already getting treatment for cancer,” Macielak told his fellow panel members. “People are not just up in Orange county dying of cancer without treatment, They are getting the treatment someplace. Where are they getting treated today?” he asked, “because this is going to come out of somebody’s hide."
Allan Aztrott, of St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital, referred to the documentation that the hospital had already provided the council that showed the need for a new facility. “We are a very rapidly growing community,” he said, noting that cancer treatment facilities at both Orange Regional Medical Center and Vassar hospital are already at capacity. He also pointed out that Medicare patients must be treated at a facility that has been approved by the state’s certificate of need process, unlike Orange County Radiation Oncology, which is a not a diagnostic and treatment center.
After the half-hour discussion, the review panel voted overwhelmingly to move the hospital’s application for a certificate of need to the next stage of approval. It is scheduled to be presented to the full council on October 2, Two more steps will be required after that to get the final green light for the cancer care center.
Comments:
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I am confused about Nancy Calhoun's comments. Shouldn't consumers have the right to having the choice of the very best health care?
posted by Tricia Haggerty Wenz on 09/25/08 at 10:36 AM
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I don't see language attributed to Ms. Calhoun that would discourage choice. Suggesting that providers already in our area, serving our community with dedication are offering less than "the Best Healthcare" is unfair. I imagine our choices may well become more limited if the area cannot support the duplication of services.
posted by Regina McGrade on 09/25/08 at 2:30 PM
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There are a few errors in the write-up. It is Medicaid patients and not Medicare. It is important for the community to know that Cornwall Hospital closed the Mental Health unit for lack of funds. St. Lukes-Cornwall is not only 40% partner in this venture. In the current environment of diminishing healthcare reimbursements, how does this partnership is lucrative for a cash strapped hospital? Other physicians should take note that a hospital can entice outsiders to compete with physicians who have devoted their career to this community.
posted by Shanti Mishra on 09/26/08 at 12:28 PM
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