Hartford HealthCare expands cancer care in Fairfield area, partnering with Memorial Sloan Kettering

CT Insider – Thursday, December 5, 2024
By Liese Klein

A new cancer unit planned for Bridgeport’s St. Vincent’s Medical Center will bring the latest in treatment and technology from New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to Fairfield County, Hartford HealthCare officials announced Thursday morning.

An existing floor of St. Vincent’s will be renovated as an inpatient cancer-care center as Hartford HealthCare ramps up its partnership with Memorial Sloan Kettering, one of the nation’s top hospitals for cancer research and treatment.

Also announced Thursday was the naming of the Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute as Memorial Sloan Kettering’s first “Care Partner,” an upgraded collaboration enacted after a months-long vetting process.

The first-in-the-nation designation will give Hartford HealthCare patients access to cancer care provided under Memorial Sloan Kettering’s treatment guidelines, practices and procedures. Patients who once had to travel to New York to get cutting-edge treatments can now get the same care in Fairfield County, said Dr. Peter Yu, physician-in-chief of the Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute.

“We’ll make those treatments available here,” Yu said. “It’s really better to care for the patients: They’re closer to their home, closer to their family.”

Hartford HealthCare has been working with Memorial Sloan Kettering for 10 years to bolster its cancer programs, with the new partnership deal intensifying the collaboration, said Jeff Flaks, President and CEO of Hartford HealthCare.

“It’s about bringing hope to our patients by expanding access to the world’s best cancer care in Fairfield County,” Flaks said.

Hartford HealthCare also plans to open a new 25,000-square-foot cancer center in Fairfield in April. Located at 4185 Black Rock Turnpike, the new facility will offer chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy and surgical consultations, in collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering.

Memorial Sloan Kettering stands to benefit from Hartford HealthCare’s network of seven hospitals across Connecticut and its investments in community outreach through clinics and urgent care, said Shelly Anderson, Hospital President of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

“The program represents a monumental step forward in transforming cancer care delivery, particularly in community settings, to ensure that every patient has the opportunity to receive the highest quality cancer care anywhere in the country,” Anderson said.

Cancer programs expand in Fairfield County

Hartford HealthCare is not alone in Fairfield County in partnering with top-tier cancer centers. Stamford Health has also expanded its collaboration with Boston’s Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center in recent years, with doctors from its Bennett Cancer Center hosting virtual meetings on patient care with Dana-Farber clinicians.

At Nuvance Health’s Norwalk Hospital, doctors there are offering new radiation treatments for gynecological cancers and advanced immunotherapy that weaponizes antibodies to kill cancer cells.

Yale New Haven Health recently named a new medical director for its Smilow Cancer Hospital at Greenwich Hospital, promising a further expansion of its services in Fairfield County. Smilow Cancer Hospital, the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Connecticut, also has locations in Stamford, Fairfield and Trumbull, in addition to 12 other sites in the region.

“Smilow Cancer Hospital leadership continues to look for ways to further bolster services in lower Fairfield County,” Yale New Haven Health spokesperson Dana Marnane said.

New cancer advances shape care model

Partnering on a deeper level with Memorial Sloan Kettering — ranked as the nation’s No. 2 hospital for cancer care by US News — makes sense for Hartford HealthCare as cancer medicine rapidly evolves, Yu said.

With recent breakthroughs on the causes of cancer at the cellular level, researchers have developed targeted drugs and treatment methods that can move from the lab to clinical trials to the hospital within months.

“If we’re going to treat patients and really take advantage of these breakthroughs and cures, we have to be much more efficient, much faster,” Yu said.

Some cutting-edge cancer care due to be expanded at Hartford HealthCare as part of the new partnership are the newest class of immunotherapy drugs, along with targeted radiation therapy delivered by drugs in the bloodstream.

Memorial Sloan Kettering doctors can benefit from Hartford HealthCare’s expertise with robotic surgery as a tool for cancer care, Yu said.

“In order to make sure that these breakthroughs get to every patient as fast as possible. We have to change how we’re doing things,” Yu said. “When you start bringing organizations together, you begin to achieve that ability to deliver things on time.”

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