Dana-Farber, Beth Israel collaborating to build new hospital for adult cancer patients

BOSTON — Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in a break with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is collaborating with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to build the region’s only independent, free-standing inpatient hospital for adult cancer patients.

In a joint news release, Dana-Farber and Beth Israel said the collaboration aims to improve access and transform patient experience as the incidence of cancer increases and care models rapidly evolve.

“Cancer care has changed dramatically. Through this collaboration, our patients and their loved ones will benefit tremendously from Dana-Farber’s leading-edge scientific discovery and exceptional patient care. We believe this will position us to provide world-renowned cancer treatment in outpatient and inpatient settings well into the future,” Dana-Farber President and CEO Laurie H. Glimcher said in a statement. “Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the physicians of HMFP share our vision and are equally committed to ensuring a superior patient experience and advancing a collaborative focus on world-class cancer care and research that will benefit our region and the world.

Beth Israel Lahey Health President and CEO Kevin Tabb added, “Together, we are taking bold steps to transform how we care for individuals and families touched by cancer, expand equitable access to life-changing care, and harness the power of scientific discovery. “This collaboration and a dedicated, free-standing cancer hospital will be truly unique in Massachusetts. Our community needs and deserves both.”

At a time when our population is aging, cancer incidence is rising in younger adults, and the severity of illness is increasing, a forward-looking model maximizes the patient benefits of advanced technologies and treatment methods by accelerating the impact of discovery and innovation, Glimcher and Tabb said.

Glimcher and Tabb noted that state-of-the-art inpatient hospital will increase adult patient capacity, and create flexibility to incorporate the innovations and technology in cancer care that Dana-Farber’s and BIDMC’s researchers and clinicians are working to develop each day.

The new facility will be located adjacent to existing Dana-Farber and BIDMC facilities in Longwood, and the proposed new cancer hospital will support both patient care and continued focus on research initiatives.

Pending regulatory approvals, Glimcher and Tabb said it will take several years to implement the cancer collaboration and construct the new cancer hospital.

Dana-Farber’s current affiliation with Brigham and Women’s Hospital for inpatient and surgical care will continue through the transition. BIDMC’s programs will also continue until the new collaboration is in place. Outpatient oncology care at Dana-Farber’s existing locations in Boston, Chestnut Hill, and other regional campuses will not be interrupted. Likewise, the cancer institute’s partnership for pediatric cancer care with Boston Children’s Hospital will not change. Beth Israel Lahey Health will also continue to invest in advancing cancer services at BIDMC and at its other hospitals.

In reaction to news of the collaborative effort, Brigham and Women’s Hospital said in part, “There will be no changes to the excellent care that our patients currently receive.”

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