Greenwich Hospital Officials Advocate For New Cancer Center

GREENWICH, CT — A day before the item was scheduled to go before the town's planning and zoning commission, Greenwich Hospital officials gathered outside on the corner of Lafayette Place and Lake Avenue on Wednesday afternoon to advocate for a new Smilow Cancer Center.

A proposal for a new center was rejected by the commission last summer, and new plans were developed earlier this year.

Neighbors near the hospital said last summer that while a new cancer center is welcome, the building as it was proposed would have impacted the character and feel of the neighborhood, as well as created more traffic problems in the area and compromised neighborhood safety.

The commission said the project was "in direct conflict" with the 2019 Plan of Conservation and Development, which serves as the town's guiding light on zoning, conservation and development decisions.

Greenwich Hospital took into account those concerns when coming up with new plans.

According to the agenda item before the commission, the proposal calls for a new 55,700 square foot, three-story, medical building at the corner of Lafayette Place and Lake Avenue, with below-grade parking for 118 vehicles, new driveways, outdoor seating areas and landscaping.

Specifically, the project will be built on a 94,869 square foot piece of land located at 16-38 Lake Avenue and 54-64 Lafayette Place.

On Wednesday, several doctors spoke about the importance of adding the new center.

In the past, hospital president Diane Kelly has stressed how important it is to get the best care close to home to limit travel and stress on families.

Dr. Karen Santucci, chief medical officer for Greenwich Hospital and senior vice president of Yale New Haven Health, explained on Wednesday why that's so important.

Santucci's brother, Bob Santucci, died from a rare form of leukemia eight years ago.

As a father to three young children at the time he was diagnosed, Bob and his wife Lisa tried to create a world of normalcy; he'd get his infusion treatments everyday, and pick his children up from school to spend quality time with them.

"For Bob, getting his cancer care close to home was not a convenience. It was a necessity. He needed to be, and I made sure he was, getting the best care possible close to his home, close to his family, without compromising everything," Santucci said. "My sister-in-law and the children, now 15, 18 and 21, will forever cherish that time that they had together, and the memories they made with Bob for a lifetime. I will never forget the personalized care he received, some of which was provided by people who are present here today.

"I know that it was the most advanced treatment possible, and I would never accept anything less for him or for any of you," Santucci added.

Dr. Barbara Ward, the hospital’s chief of Surgery and medical director of the breast center, cited statistics that show increasing cases of cancer in Connecticut and locally in Greenwich.

According to data from the Office of Strategy Management for the Yale New Haven Health System, in the next 10 years in the Greenwich/Stamford region, nearly all cancer types show growth rates between 20-26 percent, which is more than the state growth rate at 6-12 percent.

"We have a cancer problem," Ward said. "While we strive for prevention, we need to remain on the frontlines for early detection and treatment."

Dr. Sung Lee, director of the Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Center at Greenwich and assistant professor of Medicine at Yale Cancer Center, said he sees more specialized treatment of cancer in the future.

Specialists can bring together a collective experience and knowledge with new techniques to treat cancer.

"What I hope in the future is we will be able to tap into the scientific and research resources of the Yale-Smilow cancer program and offer the latest and the best cutting-edge treatment techniques that are available," Lee said. "In order for us to do that, we need the latest available resources for our patients and our community. I think we really need a new cancer center where we can bring in these experts as well as support staff to provide cancer care for the 21st century."

Dr. Bruce McGibbon, medical director of radiation oncology and associate professor of clinical therapeutic radiology at Yale Cancer Center, said a new center will provide the space to have "technology, push the envelope, further collaborate and innovate."

"We look forward to having this center here and collaborating with everybody," he said.

Thursday's planning and zoning commission meeting begins at 4 p.m., via Zoom. View the agenda here.