The Lawrence Hospital Center plan to build a multistory cancer treatment facility on Pondfield Road West in the village of Bronxville has spawned an organization with legal backing to fight it that has, in turn, produced a pointed defense of the plans from the hospital.
The apartment-house neighborhood has already witnessed years of construction on hospital upgrades that include a new emergency department and a pair of elevators. Alger Court is a chip shot east of the proposed center and the River House is the same distance to the west. Even in down times, apartments in the area still fetch more than a million dollars.
For its part, the hospital says the expansion is needed and on Aug. 15 Timothy J. Hughes, vice president of Operations and Business Development for the hospital, offered the following comments in an email to the Business Journal.
On a construction time frame:
“According to the developer, the construction will take 18 months. Although the start dates have moved, the time to construct each phase remains valid.”
Regarding community needs:
“The project is valuable to the community in that it integrates all cancer services into a single location and fosters collaboration among surgeons, oncologists, radiation oncologists, nursing and all supportive care including survivorship. The facilities will be state-of-the-art and incorporate replacement of outdated operating rooms that were built almost 60 years ago.”
He also cited the state”™s support of the project:
“The New York State Department of Health agrees with the need for additional radiation services in Westchester and approved our certificate of need application previously. Patients will no longer need to travel away from Lawrence to get radiation (services).”
In terms of certain residents”™ concerns about noise and other disruptions, Hughes stated there will be “typical short-term construction noise and traffic.”
He said the project is necessary to keep the facility competitive.
“The hospital is in great need of the upgrades if it wants to continue to attract great surgeons and physicians to our hospital and community. This is extremely important to keep the hospital competitive and fiscally strong so that the needs of the community can be met long-term. I point out that the Columbia surgeons who operate every day here at Lawrence Hospital Center in Bronxville support the project, including Helen Pass, a nationally recognized breast surgeon.”
Acknowledging that in her square-mile village, “There”™s not a lot of land to expand,” Bronxville Mayor Mary Marvin Aug. 15 said the village planning board is conducting something of a balancing act regarding the plan to build the cancer center and praised the board”™s efforts.
The planning board is acting as lead agency in the vetting process. Marvin said the board is engaged in “a balancing of interests ”“ they”™re doing a terrific job.”
She said five or six hearings had been held and that the board is fielding all comments ”“ pro and con. She offered no time frame for when a decision might appear.
“The planning board is seeking a resolution that”™s good for the hospital and one with which the neighbors are not adversely affected,” she said.
