Women & Children's Hospital of Buffalo, Roswell Park Plan New Integrated Hematology Oncology Unit

BUFFALO, NY — In a collaboration that will enhance the quality of care for children with cancer, Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center announced the first step toward building a physician-led, unified pediatric hematology-oncology program in the new John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital.

For over 40 years, the two healthcare systems have operated the pediatric hematology-oncology service for the Western New York region, with separate and complementary services offered at each hospital. With the planning for the new hospital well underway, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and Women & Children’s Hospital, a Kaleida Health facility, have initiated a physician-led planning process to develop a single center of excellence for pediatric inpatient/outpatient services.

The two institutions today signed a memorandum of understanding to plan the new center, which will be a dedicated floor of the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital. The future hospital will be located at Ellicott and High Streets on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

“We’ve been developing plans for enhancing our program under one roof for many years,” says Martin L. Brecher, MD, Chair of Pediatrics at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chief of Hematology Oncology at Women & Children’s Hospital and Chief of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology in the Department of Pediatrics at the University at Buffalo. “Each institution contributes unique expertise and services to children and young adults with cancer and blood disorders such as sickle cell disease, hemophilia and anemia. The new hospital presents a great opportunity to develop a true pediatric Center of Excellence.”

Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo is submitting its Certificate of Need (CON) application for the new hospital to the New York State Department of Health on November 2^nd. Roswell Park anticipates submitting the Certificate of Need for the Pediatric Hematology Oncology Center by the end of the year.

“This partnership between the two organizations is an excellent example of the many opportunities the new John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is granting,” said Teresa Quattrin, MD, Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Professor of Pediatrics, SUNY at Buffalo, and Pediatrician-in-Chief, Chief, Division of Endocrinology-Diabetes, Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. “We look forward to continuing to create this integrated Hematology & Oncology Unit to further enhance the care provided to patients and their families throughout Western New York and beyond.”

It is anticipated that Roswell Park will hold a long-term lease for the Center and will be responsible for medical direction. Currently, Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo provides specialty pediatric services essential to the care of these children including surgery, anesthesia, intensive care, and diagnostic imaging. Roswell Park provides oncology clinical leadership and services including radiation therapy, certain highly-specialized diagnostic services, blood and marrow transplants and clinical trials. The planned Center will continue to capitalize on the unique expertise of both institutions.

“In order to have an outstanding program for children with cancer and blood diseases, we need a very strong and comprehensive children’s hospital in partnership with a very strong and excellent cancer institute,” said James R. Kaskie, President and CEO of Kaleida Health. “Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the new John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital have joined forces in a collaborative model to further expand and improve the diagnosis, treatment and research programs available locally for children and their families who face this most difficult of diseases. Together, and in conjunction with the University at Buffalo academic programs, we will jointly operate a center of excellence for children with cancer and blood diseases where expert clinical services are provided, innovative and pioneering research is advanced to find a cure and improve treatment options, and current and future health care professionals are trained and educated.”

The proposed center will incorporate inpatient beds, an outpatient clinic, isolation beds for blood and bone marrow transplant/high-dose therapy patients, and infusion facilities for chemotherapy and blood products, all in a protected environment on the top floor of the new hospital.

“Management of cancer is best provided in facilities where hospital inpatient beds and outpatient facilities are in close proximity. The relocation of the children’s hospital to the medical campus provides the opportunity to pull together what have been two physically separate outpatient and inpatient units into a single, expanded service comprehensive facility to serve the needs of children of all ages with blood diseases and cancer. There are many advantages associated with the development of a single pediatric cancer center. The planning, implementation and operation of this facility is a complex endeavor that will require substantial time and effort on the part of our respective administrative leaders and clinical faculty,” says Donald L. Trump, MD, President and CEO of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Both institutions and their respective Boards of Directors recognize that the relocation of Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo to the medical campus presents a unique opportunity to take an excellent pediatric hematology oncology program and make it extraordinary by bringing all the services together in a new state-of-the-art hospital. Philanthropic support for the hospital and for the pediatric hematology oncology center will be required to make the program consolidation a reality.
 

About Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo
Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, a Kaleida Health facility and teaching hospital for the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, is the regional center for comprehensive and state-of-the-art pediatric, neonatal, perinatal and obstetrical services in Western New York and beyond. For more information, please go online at www.wchob.org.

About Kaleida Health
Kaleida Health is the largest health care provider and largest private employer (9,500 employees) in Western New York. More than one million patient visits are recorded annually at the Buffalo General Medical Center, DeGraff Memorial Hospital, Gates Vascular Institute, Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, plus the health system’s 90 clinics and health care centers. Kaleida Health operates HighPointe on Michigan and the DeGraff Memorial Hospital skilled nursing facility, plus the nation’s oldest – and original – Visiting Nursing Association. Kaleida Health also operates a major laboratory division as well as the Millard Fillmore Ambulatory Surgery Center. The organization is also affiliated with Great Lakes Health, the entity integrating Kaleida Health, Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) Corporation and the University at Buffalo. Kaleida Health’s economic impact on Western New York exceeds $2.2 billion annually. For more information, go to http://www.kaleidahealth.org.

About Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
The mission of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is to understand, prevent and cure cancer. Roswell Park, founded in 1898, was one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. The Institute is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs. For more information, visit Roswell Park’s website at http://www.roswellpark.org, call 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355) or email AskRoswell@Roswellpark.org.