An $84 million, 93,000 square-foot addition to the North Shore-LIJ Cancer Institute’s headquarters at the health system’s Center for Advanced Medicine has been completed, officials said Wednesday.
The new 130,000 square-foot space offers cancer diagnosis, treatment, prevention, counseling and social work services and unites programs offered by North Shore University Hospital and the LIJ Medical Center under one roof at 450 Lakeville Road, officials said.
The institute diagnoses and treats about 16,000 people each year and has access to 125 clinical trials for various cancers, officials said.
At a press conference on Wednesday unveiling the extension, doctors and patients recounted their experiences at the institute.
“For me to have all my treatments in one location has made the patient experience so much better,” said Barry Bassik, a Great Neck attorney who in 2013 underwent 36 radiation treatments at the Institute after a tumor was discovered at the base of his tongue and is now cancer-free.
“I continue to be grateful for the compassionate staff and the ease with which we were all able to communicate,” Bassik said.
Lynbrook resident Kimberly Hastings said she underwent a lumpectomy, 16 rounds of chemotherapy and 30 radiation treatments after health system doctors found a malignant tumor that originated in her breast spread to one of her lymph nodes in July 2013.
She said she was deemed cancer-free in September.
“Facing 16 chemo and 30 radiation treatments over an eight-month period was not a pleasant prospect,” Hastings said. “Yet, my experience turned out to be very positive, without issue and I am happy to say today I am cancer free.”
Louis Potters, chair of radiation medicine of the health system and co-executive director of the North Shore-LIJ Cancer Institute, hailed the facility for its heightened technology and its compassionate staff.
“Our cancer institute places great emphasis on the patient/family experience,” Potters said. “Aside from the physicians, all our navigators, dietitians, social workers and other staff are devoted to the comfort of our guests.”
Dr. Daniel Budman, the chief of hematology and oncology at North Shore University Hospital and the cancer institute, said the health system was one of 46 health-care providers in the country to receive a $4.1 million grant from the National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research program.
