Greenwich cancer center would be a neighbor to Stamford’s

It has come to my attention that during a Greenwich Planning and Zoning Committee meeting on Tuesday, May 10, while presenting its plans for a proposed, new cancer center to be situated in Greenwich, representatives from Greenwich Hospital made the assertion that without the proposed new building, cancer patients would not be able to receive local care and would be forced to seek care in Manhattan or New Haven. I feel compelled to correct a glaring omission. Stamford Health, and its wonderful Bennett Cancer Center where I have been a medical oncologist and cared for patients for 30 years, is a mere six miles from the proposed new construction site in Greenwich.

I agree with statements made at the zoning meeting that patients should have the opportunity to have local access to world class cancer care. The Bennett Cancer Center at Stamford Health has served thousands of cancer patients throughout Westchester and Fairfield counties. DanaFarber Brigham Cancer Center, an NCI-designated cancer center and U.S. News & World Report's No. 1 ranked cancer program in New England, has been a long-time partner of Stamford Health's Bennett Cancer Center and recently broadened and deepened its relationship with Stamford Health. This partnership has brought to Fairfield County many of the resources of Dana Farber Brigham Cancer Center. Many Dana Farber clinical trials are now available locally. We have patient traveling from as far as New Jersey and Philadelphia to come to the Bennett Cancer Center specifically to participate in these studies involving promising drugs. Most of our new patients are presented at tumor boards attended virtually by nationally renowned Dana Farber oncologists who specialize in their cancer and thus automatically get a treatment opinion from them. Radiation oncology planning routinely involves the input of Dana Farber Brigham radiation oncologists. We also facilitate either virtual or in-person second opinion consultations with Dana Farber oncologists. This partnership has brought world-class oncology care locally to Fairfield and Westchester County.

Our physicians diagnosed more than 1,000 cases of cancer in 2021 alone. On average, the Bennett Cancer Center provides more than 37,000 cancer care visits a year and still has capacity to care for more patients. Patients receive expert care in a state-of-the-art facility from compassionate physicians. In fact, Stamford Health is a Planetree designated hospital of Distinction for Leadership and Innovation in Patient-Centered Care, meaning we treat the whole patient and provide many supportive services to help our patients heal faster.

I have the utmost respect for the care Greenwich Hospital and its physicians provides to the community. They clearly did extensive research in building the case as to why a new cancer center is needed. However, I feel compelled to correct the assertion that patients had to travel to New York or New Haven to obtain world-class cancer care. I want to make clear that Stamford Health's Bennett Cancer Center in partnership with Dana Farber Brigham Cancer Center have been providing world-class cancer care to patients in Fairfield and Westchester County. What makes us stand out from the surrounding large institutions is our dedication to providing a patient-centric care and meeting all the needs of our patients.