Good Samaritan's $18 million cancer center set to open 

Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip said Wednesday it is opening its new cancer center.

The hospital, which is part of Rockville Centre-based Catholic Health Services of Long Island, said physicians will begin moving in this weekend, and patient care will begin on Monday.

"This is going to provide a much better resource to the community," said Ruth Hennessey, president of Good Samaritan. "Having the physicians and ambulatory infusion in the same place will make a difference."

The cancer center will be adjacent to the north side of Good Samaritan's Our Lady of Consolation Nursing Home, which is behind the hospital on Montauk Highway.  The hospital said construction of the center, including equipment, cost about $18 million.  

The 25,000-square-foot cancer center includes 12 physician offices, 20 exam rooms and a 22-bay infusion center. Infusion suites are where medicine, including cancer treatments, is administered directly into a vein.

Hennessey said the center will also offer genetic counseling, social work and nutrition and dietary services.

She added the pharmacy dedicated to cancer care will move into the location in early November. 

Health systems are expanding cancer care services throughout Long Island. For example, Manhattan-based Memorial Sloan Kettering earlier this year opened a $180 million, 114,000-square-foot cancer facility at the Hub in Uniondale.

Also, in recent years, Stony Brook Medicine opened its 240,000-square-foot cancer center on the grounds of Stony Brook University Hospital, while New Hyde Park-based Northwell Health opened the $46.5 million Imbert Cancer Center in Bay Shore.

Catholic Health Services' St. Francis Hospital also operates a cancer institute in East Hills. 

There were 18,000 new cases of cancer per year on Long Island, on average, from 2011 through 2015, according to the most recent data available from the state Department of Health.