Mt. Sinai Queens opens new infusion center

Elected officials joined Mount Sinai Queens doctors on Friday to unveil the Astoria hospital’s new state-of-the-art infusion center. An extension of the hospital’s Tisch Cancer Institute, the outpatient facility will be used to provide chemotherapy as well as a wide range of transfusion services. Caryn A. Schwab, executive director of Mount Sinai Queens, said the new center could allow Mt. Sinai doctors to provide care to hundreds more patients annually.

“With this center, and larger [extension] plans, we’re finally going to give the community what they deserve—the most up-to-date quality care we can provide,” said Mt. Sinai physician Luis Isola, M.D.

The facility is one in an extensive series of renovations and modernizations the hospital has been undergoing since 2013. The $125 expansion plan includes a new six-floor building with 7 new operating rooms, new advanced imaging services and a larger emergency department. The renovated emergency department will open before the end of the year, Schwab said, while the remainder of the renovations should be completed in 2016.

“[Years ago] I realized medical oncology was becoming more complex,” said Howard Greenberg, M.D. “We could cure the incurable, we could provide longer remission times. But those services were only being provided across the river. Because of [these renovations], we’re able to fill the need in the community. It provides us the best of both worlds—world-class medical care from the comfort of your own community.”