Citing an aging demographic within its southern Westchester County service area, Lawrence Hospital Center in Bronxville is proposing to build a 40,000-square-foot cancer treatment facility near its current Pondfield Road West main entrance.
Early estimates prepared for the hospital placed the building costs at $24.75 million and said it would create 114 construction-related jobs.
The plan is not sitting well with nearby residents who are citing the village”™s own quality-of-life themed comprehensive zoning plan as ammunition in their fight and who now have formally organized.
The hospital envisions a 17-month construction envelope starting January 2012 and ending June 2013. The planned center would consist of a subterranean level and two above-ground levels capped with a roof garden. If the plan sees fruition, an additional 20 to 25 patients and upped staff of about seven positions would gravitate there daily. The hospital now has 291 beds and is served by 450 physicians and a staff of 1,000.
A resident of nearby Alger Court, who requested anonymity, said he is opposed to the cancer center and estimated the planned work to last 30 months and to feature disruptive amounts of noise and dirt. “There”™s quite a dustup brewing,” he said. Residents have voiced additional reservations about the noise of outside-based cooling units even after construction is complete. They have formed the “West Side Protection Committee,” backed with legal counsel to fight either local or state approvals for the expansion.
The village planning board accepted comments last month, but rendered no decision. According to the hospital, the state Department of Health “agreed that there is a community need and issued Lawrence the necessary Certificate of Need for construction.”
Calls to the hospital were not returned.
In a prepared statement, the hospital said, “Excavation will take about two months. From March to July 2012 the steel and concrete structure will be erected. The exterior building ”˜skin”™ will go up in July 2012. After the exterior is completely enclosed, expected in October 2012, there should be minimal construction noise and disruption. The interior build-out should take about eight months and be completed in May 2013. Landscaping by a landscape architect will be completed in May and June 2013.”
Mayor Mary Marvin could not be reached for comment.
The over-65 population in Lawrence”™s service area was 18.8 percent in 2009, according to the hospital. The percentage will be 20.1 percent in 2014. The national average is 12.7 percent. “The incidence of cancer in people 65-plus rises to 22 per 1,000 versus 2.2 per 1,000 in people under 64 years of age,” the hospital reported as part of its state application. Lawrence could handle 60 percent of all cancers with radiation therapy, which it currently lacks.
Last year, the hospital concluded a $50 million makeover that included a remade emergency center with 11 new exam rooms and a 250-gallon fish tank; the facility treats some 100 persons daily. A new maternity center features 23 private rooms and will deliver 2,000 babies this year. The hospital also added a pair of six-story elevators.
Lawrence Hospital needs to build this new cancer facility. I fully agree with the hospital. Patients need to be able to go to a cancer treatment center that is local to their home. I bet that the people that live around the hospital would be the first ones to use the facility. It is always “not in my backyard”. We need to get away from that mentality. Build the new facility.