White Plains, NY (June 4, 2015) – White Plains Hospital will celebrate the journey of more than 150 cancer survivors treated recently in the Hospital’s Cancer Program at their annual Cancer Survivors Day brunch on Sunday June 7th at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in White Plains.
Now in its 15th year, the event is a celebration of the courage and determination shown by cancer survivors throughout the community. It also acknowledges the fight for the cure that patients and doctors push for every day.
2015 guest of honor and cancer survivor Karen “Toby” Haghenbeck, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor of Nursing at the Lienhard School of Nursing at Pace University, will share her experiences as a lymphoma survivor as well as a professional caregiver. She will be joined by another cancer survivor and 2013 guest of honor, White Plains Mayor Tom Roach, who will also provide remarks to the group of over 200 cancer survivors, caregivers, physicians, nurses and other clinicians.
Oncologic Surgeon and Chairman of the Hospital’s Cancer Committee, Dr. Mark Gordon; newly installed Chairman of the Board of Directors Laurence Smith and the Hospital’s President and C.E.O. Susan Fox will also address the group and join in the celebration, along with dozens of members of the Hospital’s interdisciplinary cancer care team.
“Cancer Survivors Day is a way for survivors to connect with each other and celebrate milestones with loved ones who have helped care for them,” said Dr. Gordon. “It is also a very meaningful way for us as healthcare providers to celebrate our successes with our patients.”
The Hospital’s 2015 Cancer Survivors Day celebration event will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Crowne Plaza Hotel, 66 Hale Avenue, White Plains.
White Plains Hospital’s National Cancer Survivors’ Day coincides with Cancer Survivors’ Month in June. According to the NYS Cancer Registry, more than 100,000 New Yorkers are diagnosed with cancer every year. The American Cancer Society estimates that there were nearly 14.5 million cancer survivors in the United States in 2014, up from 9.8 million in 2001 and 3 million in 1971.
The Hospital is nearing completion on a major expansion of its cancer center, doubling the square footage to nearly 70,000 with the addition of a new six-story outpatient physician office tower, infusion center and renovated Dickstein Cancer Center designed for optimal patient comfort and an enhanced patient and family experience. The new center will officially open at the end of October, with several events open to the community currently being planned.
White Plains Hospital (WPH) is a 292-bed not-for-profit health care organization with the primary mission of providing exceptional acute and preventive medical care to all people who live in, work in or visit Westchester County and its surrounding areas. Centers of Excellence include the Dickstein Cancer Center, The William & Sylvia Silberstein Neonatal & Maternity Center and The Ruth and Jerome A. Siegel Stroke Center. The Hospital’s Flanzer Emergency Department is the busiest in Westchester County, seeing over 55,000 visits a year. White Plains Hospital is the first community hospital in Westchester County to perform lifesaving emergency & elective angioplasty in its Joan and Alan Herfort, M.D. Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. The Hospital is fully accredited by the Joint Commission and earned its recognition as a Top Performer for Key Quality Measures® in 2013. The Hospital is also an eleven-time winner of the Consumer Choice Award, an honor given to the nation’s top hospitals by the National Research Corporation, and received Magnet® designation in 2012 from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). In 2014 White Plains Hospital received the Outstanding Patient Experience Award from Healthgrades®, given to only 5% of hospitals nationwide. White Plains Hospital is a member of the Montefiore Health System. For additional information, visit http://www.wphospital.org.