Cancer center celebrates first phase of construction

The first phase of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center at 500 Westchester Ave. in Harrison is complete.

The cancer center celebrated the milestone by having the design team and Hunter Roberts Construction Group sign the last steel beam before installing it.

The 114,000-square-foot outpatient treatment facility is expected to open in the first quarter of 2015 at a cost of $129 million.

Plans for the center include ambulatory oncology services — including medical, neurologic, and radiation oncology — comprehensive diagnostic radiology, surgical oncology consultations, dermatology, genetic counseling, high-risk cancer screening and surveillance, survivorship programs, social work, nutrition, and other support services.

The cancer center has been opposed by the Northern Metropolitan Hospital Association and the Westchester County Medical Society. Both associations feel it will be disruptive to the market.