Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to neighbor Coliseum

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A state-of-the-art Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is set to open in late 2019 after the center announced it purchased five acres on the southwest lawn of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Dec. 29.

“It’s long been a desire of ours to operate a freestanding outpatient treatment center in Nassau County,” said Courtney DeNicola Nowak, senior media relations associate. “This new site will give us ample space to grow our clinical programs and expand ancillary support services, which will further reduce the need for our patients to travel to MSK in Manhattan.”

The center first opened its doors to Nassau County residents in 1996 at its Rockville Centre site. Once the new site is ready for outpatient cancer care, the Rockville Centre location will close and transfer its patients and staff to the new Uniondale location, making it the only location in Nassau County, according to Nowak. The center currently has two locations in Suffolk County. Most of its locations are in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

“This outpatient treatment facility will offer critical cancer care to patients without the wear and tear of traveling to Manhattan,” Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said in a statement. “This is great news for residents diagnosed with cancer and for those seeking employment in the health care industry.”

Nowak said the new site will be a two-story, 114,000 square-foot facility with an adjacent parking garage. The center also purchased another 25,000 square-feet for possible future expansion.

Nowak said that although the plans for specific medical services to be offered on site are in progress, the center will include surgical, medical, and radiation oncology consultations, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and diagnostic radiology. The center will also offer clinical research trials, pain management support, social work services, genetic counseling and even nutritional counseling.

“Planning is also underway for three state-of-the-art linear accelerators used to map and deliver intensity-modulated and image-guided radiation therapy,” Nowak said. A tool, she said, that will help many patients in numerous ways.

Although the center is not scheduled to open until late 2019, Nowak said there will most likely be “some level of recruitment, a mix of clinical and administrative/professional positions” detailed on careers.mskcc.org.