Greenwich Hospital Announces Proposed Plan for Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Center at Greenwich

Greenwich, CT (March 25, 2022) – With oncology and cardiovascular care becoming the most prevalent healthcare needs in Greenwich today – and the most important responsibilities for community hospitals to now fulfill – Greenwich Hospital announced that it will introduce a new proposal for the Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Center at Greenwich www.smilowcancerhospitalgreenwich.org.The revised proposal will be presented to the Greenwich Architectural Review Committee and the Planning & Zoning Commission in April.

In evolving the proposal for the center following the initial submission in 2021, Greenwich Hospital worked closely with the community to reflect neighbor and community feedback. The proposed center includes 30 percent more green space, is set further back from the road to preserve the look of the neighborhood, has moved parking underground, now accommodates a single entrance and exit to the site, and facilitates greater walkability in the area. With a focus on integration with nature, the Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Center will also feature infusion rooms with direct access to a beautiful healing garden.

The proposed Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Center at Greenwich reflects the growing prevalence of cancer in the region. A new center will expand offerings for those seeking care at Greenwich and eliminate the need to travel longer distances for treatments that Greenwich does not currently offer.

Each year, approximately 3,000 people who live in Greenwich and the immediate surrounding area are diagnosed with cancer. For breast cancer alone, Fairfield County has the highest incidence of disease in the state of Connecticut, and Connecticut has one of the highest rates in the country. In the next 10 years in the Greenwich-Stamford region, nearly all cancer types show growth rates of between 20 and 26 percent – with breast, gynecological and urologic cancers remaining the most prevalent in our region.

“We have a responsibility to evolve as the needs of our community evolve. And today the most acute needs in our community are for cardiovascular and oncology care,” said Diane Kelly, DNP, RN, president of Greenwich Hospital. “Since 2018, we’ve invested significantly to expand cardiac care at Greenwich, and now it’s time to do the same for oncology. Care should be local when it can be, and this is our opportunity to provide personalized and comprehensive cancer care to patients right here in Greenwich.”

If the proposal is approved, patients seeking oncology care in Greenwich will have access to state-of-the-art cancer care – including the most advanced technology in radiation oncology suites and novel therapies in patient-centered infusion spaces – in a setting defined by Greenwich Hospital’s signature focus on exceptional patient care. The new offerings will build on Greenwich Hospital’s existing cancer resources, including imaging, private oncology rooms and women’s cancer services – ultimately providing cohesive care and wraparound healthcare in one central setting. Additional information about these features can be found at the cancer center website: www.smilowcancerhospitalgreenwich.org.

Through the affiliation with the Smilow Cancer Hospital, one of the nation’s pre-eminent cancer hospitals and the only comprehensive cancer facility in Connecticut, the cancer care center will bring patients access to more than 300 clinical trials. Importantly, the new Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Center at Greenwich will bring additional dedicated disease teams to the campus, complementing Greenwich and Yale New Haven Health’s existing team of nationally recognized specialists.

“We’re living through a time where there’s an explosion of new treatments for cancer care. It’s an extremely exciting time. But what it means is that now more than ever, it’s so important to be around a center that has the newest treatments available. To offer those cutting-edge treatments you need special facilities for the sophisticated imaging that can detect cancer earlier. You need to put in place a team, because cancer is now not just an oncologist, but it’s a team approach of surgeons, radiation oncologists, palliative care and more. You need to be able to bring them all together in one place. We need a facility that can handle that,” said Daniel Petrylak, MD, professor of Medicine and Urology at Yale School of Medicine and a national leader on clinical trials for men with prostate and bladder cancer at Smilow Cancer Hospital.

“If you're going to be in healthcare you have to constantly push yourself to say, is this the very best we can offer the community? With the expertise of Smilow, Yale Cancer Center and Yale New Haven Health, coupled with the culture of exceptional patient care at Greenwich, the Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Center at Greenwich represents the very best that we can bring to Greenwich,” said Kelly.

Greenwich Hospital is a member of Yale New Haven Health. Greenwich is a 206-bed (includes 32 isolettes) community hospital serving lower Fairfield County, Connecticut and Westchester County, New York. It is a academic affiliate of Yale School of Medicine. Since opening in 1903, Greenwich Hospital has evolved into a progressive medical center and teaching institution representing all medical specialties and offering a wide range of medical, surgical, diagnostic and wellness programs. Greenwich Hospital is recognized throughout the healthcare industry as a leader in service and patient satisfaction excellence. Greenwich Hospital has the prestigious Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the nation’s highest honor of nursing excellence. www.greenwichhospital.org

Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven is part of the nationally recognized Yale New Haven Hospital, and is affiliated with Yale Cancer Center (YCC), one of only 56 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the nation and the only such center in Connecticut. Smilow Cancer Hospital, the most comprehensive cancer facility in New England, includes private inpatient rooms, multidisciplinary outpatient treatment centers, 12 operating rooms, infusion suites, diagnostic imaging services, and specialized women's and children’s services. Smilow Cancer Hospital also operates a dozen outpatient care centers across Connecticut. YCC and Smilow Cancer Hospital are members of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), an alliance of 28 cancer centers in the U.S., whose mission is to improve the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of oncology care. www.ynhh.org/smilow.