Memorial Sloan-Kettering Opens Rockefeller Outpatient Pavilion

NEW YORK—Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center’s new Laurance S. Rockefeller Outpatient Pavilion provides advanced programs for outpatient cancer diagnosis and treatment in a calm and beautiful environment. “We believe this facility will serve as a national model for the delivery of outpatient cancer care in the new millennium,” said Paul A. Marks, MD, president and CEO.

The 190,000-square-foot facility is located at 53rd Street and Third Avenue in midtown Manhattan. Patient care services include gastrointestinal, genitourinary, gynecology (ovarian and cervical cancer); dermatology, thoracic oncology, clinical immunology, cardiology and pulmonary, radiology, and plastic and reconstructive surgery consultations, as well as pharmacy services, a boutique (see figure), and a conference center.

The physical environment is designed to convey a sense of peace and well-being, and includes several waterfalls, sculptural water gardens in 9 reception areas, and original works of art and poetry.

Other interesting aspects of the Rockefeller Pavilion include: organizing patient care services by specific diseases so that teams of specialists work together on the same floor; creating a technology infrastructure so that medical records and x-rays are tracked electronically and are easily available to members of the disease team; and providing patients with Internet access and a comprehensive patient education program with CD-ROMs.

Laurance S. Rockefeller, for whom the building is named, said: “This extraordinary new facility . . . stands as a symbol of our belief in the healing synergy between medical science and the power of each individual patient’s mind, body, and spirit.” Mr. Rockefeller is honorary co-chairman of the Boards of Overseers and Managers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering.