After more than a decade without local radiation services, Far Rockaway residents no longer have to leave the peninsula for specialized cancer care. Episcopal Health Services has opened the EHS Cancer Center at the Walsh Ambulatory Pavilion, bringing medical oncology and on-peninsula radiation therapy back to the Rockaways and cutting the long, grinding commutes that daily treatments often require.
Episcopal Health Services says the clinic is equipped with a TrueBeam linear accelerator for targeted radiation, a PET/CT scanner, infusion suites and a cancer navigation program to help patients coordinate their care. “This Cancer Center allows us to deliver advanced, coordinated care locally,” Marc Warshawsky, chief of hematology and oncology at EHS, said in coverage by the local paper, The Rockaway Times. EHS officials say the center will provide medical oncology, hematology, immunotherapy and access to clinical trials, along with supportive services such as social work, specialty pharmacy and survivorship programs.
Where It Sits And What It Cost
The cancer center cost roughly $18 million to build and sits inside the Walsh Ambulatory Pavilion, a five-story outpatient building reportedly financed at about $55 million. That price tag for both the pavilion and the cancer center was reported by Crain's New York Business, and the pavilion's design and clinic layout were previously detailed by the project's architect, Think! Architecture + Design. Officials describe the pavilion as the outpatient hub for the EHS campus, with the new cancer center serving as the building’s first specialty service.
Why It Matters To Rockaway Patients
Before the new center opened, Rockaway patients often had to travel off the peninsula for specialized cancer care, adding time and transportation costs to already frequent treatment trips. The 2012 closure of Peninsula Hospital left St. John’s as the only full-service hospital on the peninsula, as reported by QNS, which made access to nearby radiation and chemo even tougher. Community leaders say having radiation, chemotherapy and imaging consolidated inside the pavilion cuts down on burdensome commutes for daily treatments that can be especially hard on older or low-income patients.
What’s Next And How To Access Care
Episcopal says additional outpatient specialties inside the Walsh Ambulatory Pavilion are scheduled to open in March, and the cancer center is the pavilion’s first specialty service now accepting patients. For appointments and referrals, EHS lists the Cancer Center at the Walsh Ambulatory Pavilion and provides phone lines for medical and radiation oncology on its website. Health-system leaders say the center will also expand access to clinical trials and supportive services that were previously unavailable on the peninsula, giving Rockaway patients more options without leaving their own neighborhood.
