New Pfriem SWIM Cancer Center Opening At St Vincent’s

BRIDGEPORT — St Vincent’s Medical Center will unveil its Elizabeth Pfriem SWIM Center for Cancer Care by providing the public with a preview look at the new 125,000-square-foot building designed to consolidate cancer prevention, diagnostic, treatment, and survivorship services in one convenient and attractive location. The new building, built at a cost of approximately $50 million, marks the most significant expansion project in the medical center’s 106-year history.

It will open its doors to patients officially on February 2.

The general public is invited to visit the Pfriem SWIM Center for a tour of the facilities led by oncology staff and managers during the open house on Saturday, January 23, from 10 am to 3 pm, and Sunday, January 24, from noon to 4 pm.

“This magnificent new structure and its many cutting-edge features and technological advancements will only enhance the superb care the community has come to know at St Vincent’s,” said St Vincent’s President/CEO Susan L. Davis, RN, EdD. “Coupled with the expertise of our physicians, the multidisciplinary approach to care, and the screenings and support provided by the SWIM Across the Sound, the new center gives me the confidence to say that no one will have to travel outside our service area to receive state-of-the-art cancer care.”

The center, a four-story building that also houses the new Michael J. Daly Center for Emergency and Trauma Care recently dedicated on its first floor, encompasses 125,000 square feet of new construction, all built to green standards, and introduces a generous amount of natural light filtering into the healing environment of its interior.

“The cancer center is designed to improve access to early diagnosis and treatment in a warm, caring, and patient-friendly environment, “ said Stuart G. Marcus, MD, senior vice president, chief medical officer, and chairman, Department of Oncology. “It will be a facility characterized by strong organizational capabilities, institutional commitment, and the unparalleled loyalty of our professional staff, which will combine to provide cancer patients with the best possible outcomes.”

The Elizabeth Pfriem Center for Radiation Therapy houses extraordinary equipment combining diagnostic imaging, digital fluoroscopy, and digital radiography that can target all tumor sites, while minimizing damage to healthy tissue; a PET/CT Dual Unit Scanner and Simulator; the Ambulatory Infusion Center; the new Women’s Imaging Center; an Education and Conference Center, and administrative space housing offices for physicians in addition to the Prostate Cancer Institute, the breast cancer nurse navigators, the clinical trials office, and the tumor registry.

The Center for Radiation Therapy also features the Novalis Tx Radiosurgery and Varian Rapid Arc radiotherapy technology, representing a new standard for noninvasive radiosurgery for both brain and body sites. A specialized built-in tracking device is used for instant target identification and localization.

High-dose radiation can be delivered safely and quickly to the tumor while sparing the normal surrounding tissues. Treatment times are faster compared to the cyberknife and gamma knife systems.

“This device is simply revolutionary in its design and functionality and will result in better patient outcomes,” said Vice Chairman of Oncology and Medical Director of Radiation Oncology Christopher Iannuzzi, MD. “We are proud to offer such a device to our local community.”

The cancer center additionally features the Integrative Oncology Center, offering a range of complimentary therapies and survivorship programs including a boutique, spa services, nutrition counseling, and risk-reducing cooking classes in a new demo kitchen, massage therapy, social work services, financial counseling, a meditation area, and a garden courtyard for infusion therapy where patients may relax in tranquility while receiving their chemo treatments.

The facility also incorporates many green elements of design and construction, including optimized energy-performance mechanical and electrical systems that will be employed throughout the new building, and the use of plate and heat frame exchangers that afford “free” equipment cooling.

Other energy-efficiency design elements include local controls of lighting and temperatures, minimal runoff storm water management, demand-based ventilation for high occupancy spaces, avoidance of CFC materials through the use of nonrefrigerant chillers, mercury-free thermometers, and low-volume toilet fixtures.

The building exterior employs low E glazing, and heat-reflective roofing. Interior finishes are made of sustainable, low-emitting and recycled and/or renewable materials. Wherever possible, the construction uses local materials and recycling of waste products.

The entrance plaza and parking area reflect that of an urban park, to be generously supplied with trees, shrubbery and seasonal plantings. To learn more, visit stvincents.org