White Plains Hospital Cancer Survivors Recognized at Annual Cancer Survivors Day Celebration June 5th

White Plains Hospital honored approximately 100 cancer survivors treated in the Hospital’s Cancer Program at its annual Cancer Survivors Day brunch on Sunday June 5th at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in White Plains.

Now in its 16th year, the event coincides with National Cancer Survivors Day and is a celebration of the courage and determination shown by cancer survivors throughout the community. It also acknowledges the fight for the cure that patients, doctors and the entire multidisciplinary team push for every day.

The 2016 survivor speaker was Patricia Vitelli, of Hartsdale. Ms. Vitelli was recognized for her strength and courage throughout her own breast cancer experience. She is an executive at Westhab, a Yonkers- based organization that helps homeless and low-income families find homes. She was joined by other cancer survivors, caregivers, physicians, nurses and other clinicians in the Hospital’s Cancer Program, which treats thousands of patients every year.

Oncologic Surgeon and Chairman of the Hospital’s Cancer Committee, Dr. Mark Gordon; Chairman of the Board of Directors Laurence Smith; the Hospital’s President and C.E.O. Susan Fox; and Mayor of White Plains Tom Roach also addressed the group and joined in the celebration, along with dozens of members of the Hospital’s interdisciplinary cancer care team.

“Cancer Survivors Day is a day when we as clinicians connect with our patients in a personal and celebratory way, outside of the medical setting, to demonstrate our support for each other and our belief that we are all united in our desire to find a cure for cancer, and improve the lives of those who live with it,” said Dr. Gordon.
Survivors and caregivers were treated with massage therapy and healing touch by trained members of the Hospital’s holistic care services team, and were able to learn about the expanding breadth of complementary care programs and services under the Cancer Program umbrella.

In February, the Hospital opened its new Center for Cancer Care, an expanded facility that provides comprehensive and coordinated cancer care in partnership with the Montefiore Health System. The new center is double the square footage of the original Dickstein Cancer Treatment Center, which opened in 1999. It encompasses the renovated Dickstein pavilion, an additional six-story outpatient physician oncology pavilion, two infusion centers, and ample space for complementary therapies and amenities designed for optimal patient comfort and an enhanced patient and family experience.

According to the NYS Cancer Registry, more than 100,000 New Yorkers are diagnosed with cancer every year. The American Cancer Society estimates that there were nearly 14.5 million cancer survivors in the United States in 2014, up from 9.8 million in 2001 and 3 million in 1971.