$143M Westchester cancer center gets preliminary approval

A proposal for a $143 million Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in
Harrison, Westchester, received preliminary approval from the
construction committee of the Public Health and Health Planning
Council yesterday.

The decision was reached even though officials from several local
hospitals and trade groups had lobbied against the approval. Competing
hospitals said the area has several facilities that are already
equipped with multi-million-dollar technology for radiation treatment
and that a new outpatient center was not needed. Jon Schandler,
president and chief executive of White Plains Hospital, said the
proposed Site On Westchester Avenue is just three miles away from
White Plains Hospital, which already has a comprehensive cancer
center, the Journal News reported. He added that the cancer center is
profitable, which helps the hospital pay for services that regularly
lose money, like the emergency room, Schandler said.

The Hudson Valley Hospital Center has invested $12 million in a
soon-to-open cancer center, John Federspiel, hospital president and
chief executive, told the committee. “This project will have an impact
on our razor-thin operating margins,” he said. But Sloan Kettering
said the new center’s patients would largely come from the tens of
thousands of Hudson Valley residents who are already traveling to New
York City for treatment. The full public health and health planning committee still needs to take a final vote next month. [WNYC]
and [Journal News]