Beth Israel Announces Plans for Cancer Center

Provided by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center will consolidate its west suburban cancer services into a new, state-of-the-art comprehensive center inNeedham slated to open in the spring of 2014.

Groundbreaking for the proposed, three-story, 30,000-square foot, approximately $20 million building on the campus of  is scheduled for the spring of 2012, pending all state and local approvals. JACA Architects of Quincy has been selected for the design.

The project also represents Phase II of improvement and expansion of care available to patients in Needham and surrounding communities at BID-Needham. In October 2009, the community hospital opened a new emergency department and a new inpatient wing. This new building will enable expansion of surgery and related care for patients at BID-Needham.

Beth Israel Deaconess’ new cancer center in Needham will become home to radiation oncology services previously provided at BIDMC’s facility inWaltham, which closed in July when the building’s owner, Children’s Hospital Boston, opted to use the space to meet an expanding need for pediatric services. Current patients of the Waltham site have continued to receive personalized cancer care in the community at BID-Needham, which has long provided oncology services as well.

“This is a unique opportunity to upgrade and expand cancer care to our patients in the western suburbs,” said Eric Buehrens, BIDMC’s Interim President and CEO. “The new cancer center in Needham will allow us to provide our patients the same world class-care available at BIDMC without them having to travel to downtown Boston.”

“We look forward to bringing our suburban medical and radiation oncology services together under one roof at a modern and comfortable center, and at the same time have the opportunity to expand services for our community,” said John Fogarty, president and CEO at BID-Needham.

In the new building, BIDMC will offer patients a full array of cancer care, expected to include: advanced imaging systems; six new infusion bays; a radiation oncology suite which will include a state-of-the-art linear accelerator to facilitate delivery of advanced conformal radiation therapy; and access to cutting-edge clinical trials and novel treatments.

BIDMC is recognized by US News & World Report as one of the nation’s top hospitals in cancer care. In 2010, BIDMC joined with Commonwealth Hematology-Oncology, the largest community-based private cancer practice in New England, to expand the reach of BIDMC’s services into the community. Together, BIDMC and CHO have more than 75 physicians in 15 locations and infusion centers with 150 chemotherapy chairs, in communities across Eastern Massachusetts.

The BIDMC Cancer Center is one of the preeminent clinical and research cancer programs in the country, offering the best in early diagnosis, leading edge treatments and personalized care plans. Multidisciplinary teams offer 18 specialty programs, such as those focusing on breast cancer, prostate cancer and biologic therapy. As a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, BIDMC patients benefit from access to a broad range of clinical trials. The Cancer Center is a member of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), and an active participant in many of the National Cancer Institute’s Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE). It was the first program in Massachusetts, to receive the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons.

The medical center is also home to some of the nation’s top cancer researchers. In 2011, Pier Paolo Pandolfi, MD, PhD, received Pezcoller Foundation-AACR (American Association of Cancer Research) International Award for Cancer Research. He was the second researcher at BIDMC to receive this prestigious award. Lewis Cantley, PhD, whose discovery of a molecular pathway known as PI3K has led to one of the most promising avenues for the development of personalized cancer therapies, received the Pezcoller award in 2005 and also is the leader of one of five scientific “dream teams” awarded grants from a national coalition called Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C).

BIDMC was the first center in New England—and one of only a select number of hospitals in the country—to offer CyberKnife, a dynamic new radiation therapy system that is a noninvasive, radiosurgical alternative to open surgery for cancerous and other tumors. BIDMC’s Keith C. FieldCyberKnife Center uses precise image-guidance and a multi-jointed robotic arm to deliver concentrated beams of radiation from multiple directions.

BIDMC also offers advanced imaging systems—including Boston’s first PET/CT scanner—for early cancer detection, less invasive breast imaging, advanced gastrointestinal diagnostic techniques, virtual colonoscopy and more.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and currently ranks third in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide. BIDMC is clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and is a research partner of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit www.bidmc.org.

Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham is a licensed 56-bed  acute care community hospital, has served the residents of Needham, Dedham, Dover, Medfield, Newton, Wellesley, Westwood for and surrounding communities for nearly 100 years.  This community hospital, previously known as The Glover Hospital, joined Beth Israel Deaconess MedicalCenter in 2002.  The hospital provides comprehensive inpatient and outpatient services, complete diagnostic facilities, and a brand new, award-winning Emergency Department. For more information, visit www.bidneedham.org.