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Doctors, patients excited about new cancer center
Author: Matt Lynch November 13, 2006...Nearly 20 years after beating breast cancer, Louise Reneau learned she had bone cancer in her pelvis. Faced with unwelcome task of fighting cancer twice, the 53-year-old Northbridge resident credits her oncologist, Dr. Mona Kaddis of the Milford Regional Medical Center, with keeping her spirits up. "She cares about not just how you feel but about you," said Reneau. "She has an attitude that you will get better. She has a sign in her office that says, ’No whining.’" In a little more than a year, Kaddis might have a whole lot more than a "No whining" sign. Hospital officials and administrators from across the state gathered at Milford Regional for a groundbreaking ceremony for a 54,000-square-foot cancer center in Milford. Although construction actually began in late September, doctors, patients, and politicians gathered yesterday afternoon for an official groundbreaking ceremony. Hospital spokeswoman Terri McDonald said construction for the building, which will be across Rte. 16 from the main facility, should be completed by fall. The $25 million building is the unprecedented joint effort of the Milford hospital, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, officials said. "This a new way of working with community for us," said Dana-Farber President and CEO Dr. Edward Benz. "This is the first time we’ve tried to provide care this far from our Longwood campus (in Boston)." Fracis Saba, president and CEO of Milford Regional Healthcare System, said the facility will have more sophisticated methods of prevention, diagnosis and treatment than currently offered in Milford. "We hope and we expect to have world class cancer services in Milford," said Saba. Dr. Lawrence Shulman, the chief medical officer for Dana-Farber, said the building will have radiation oncology, clinical trials and survivorship programs for the more than 9,000 patients who visit Milford Regional for cancer-related services. "Patients used to travel a long way for radiation therapy and they won’t have to anymore," said Shulman. State Sen. Richard Moore, D-Uxbridge, a member of the Legislature’s committee on health care financing, said the building will offer desperately needed methods of preventing and fighting a disease that has, in some way, affected everyone. "Cancer too often leads to death of those we know and love," said Moore. "Cancer is, for the most part, preventable and with early detection it can be treated." Reneau, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1988 and learned of her bone cancer in 2005 after three biopsies, said she knows the new building will help many people in the Milford area. "I’m lucky because I’m not doing that badly," said Reneau. "I’ve seen some very sick people in (Kaddis’s) office." Benz said Dana-Farber decided to expand its services to other parts of the state in 2003 and decided on Milford because of its location and quality of care. "You don’t want to be too far away the first time," said Benz. Moore said on the heels of Beacon Hill’s recent efforts to increase health insurance coverage in the state, it is important the level of care available to people in and near Boston spread to the rest of Massachusetts. "Increasing access to care financially won’t help if access to care isn’t easy geographically," he said. |