For the first time, the facilities for mammograms, needle aspirations, radiation therapy, genetic counseling, nutrition counseling, and psychiatry are all on one floor. Grouping related facilities means patients can get faster diagnosis, treatment, and counseling, says Dr. Antman. Simple, elegant renovations to the waiting area have given mammogram patients a private space. A back hallway allows patients to move from one treatment area to the next or talk privately to receptionists about billing or appointments without coming into view of people in the outer waiting room. Staff members carefully chose colors in the artwork, walls, and carpets to omit the colors of chemotherapy medications, which can trigger nausea in some patients.
Medical considerations are apparent throughout.
Floors 7 through 12 also will be remodeled and redecorated. Part of the Irvings' gift also will support a cancer genetics floor in the Berrie Pavilion in the Audubon Biomedical Science and Technology Park. Although it's hard to predict what cancer research will reveal in the future, Dr. Antman believes progress will continue steadily. Advances in this field will continue in that way. That's just realistic.