The Eastern Connecticut Health Network has opened a new state-of-the-art cancer diagnosis and treatment center in Manchester that aims to boost the organization’s capacity and keep patients closer to home.
The new 30,000-square-foot John A. DeQuattro Cancer Center, which is part of the Eastern Connecticut Cancer Institute, will give ECHN, which owns Manchester Memorial and Rockville General Hospital in Vernon, the ability to treat more patients with additional technology and services, while also cutting down on patient wait time, said Kristoffer Popovitch, the administrative director of cancer services.
“Most hospitals have some form of cancer treatment,” Popovitch said. “But we are going to put everything under one roof so we can offer a comprehensive cancer care center.”
ECHN officials say the new facility will help the health care organization retain more local cancer patients, who sometimes seek care at larger hospitals outside the region including Yale-New Haven Hospital or Hartford Hospital.
A big draw will be the expanded radiation services the institute will offer in collaboration with Community CancerCare— a regional not-for-profit joint venture of Hartford Hospital, Johnson Memorial Hospital, and ECHN.
“We want to make sure patients know they have the same care right in their own backyards,” said Kate Sims, the vice president of operations. “We may be smaller, but we have the ability to offer exceptional care.”
The new institute will offer a full range of cancer services including surgery, chemotherapy, infusion therapy, radiation, nutritional support, pain management, clinical services, and counseling for both families and patients.
The building cost nearly $8.5 million, but with equipment and other add-ons the total project was about $16 million, said Phillip Candito, the director of business development at ECHN.
Candito said the entire project took about two-and-a-half years to come together, and required the health care organization to acquire 18 single-family homes.
Besides ECHN, two other tenants are occupying space in the cancer center.
Community CancerCare is occupying space to provide radiation therapy. A private medical oncology group is housed on the second floor of the building to provide chemotherapy services.
Michael Veillette, ECHN’s vice president of finance, said the joint venture is a key strategy in growing the organization’s programs and services, at a time when hospitals’ across the state are facing tough financial conditions.
It should also help ECHN boost market share within its 19 town footprint, Veillette said.
As part of the new facility, ECHN has added a second linear accelerator, which delivers a high-energy radiation that can destroy cancer cells while sparing the surrounding normal tissue. There is also space for a third machine if demand eventually requires it, Sims said.
New services include high dose rate radiation therapy, and the institute will also provide a survivorship program, Sims said.
“It’s really about keeping the family and patient close to home so they don’t have to travel,” Sims said.
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