St. Francis dedicates chemo infusion clinic
DEANN DAVISON/SSM HEALTH
Dr. Rolando Breier cuts a ceremonial ribbon Friday during dedication ceremonies for a new cancer clinic and chemotherapy infusion center at St. Francis Hospital in Maryville. The 3,500-square-foot facility embraces a private infusion room, a blood-drawing room, six curtained infusion bays, examination rooms, nurse stations and a physician office area.
Local civic and business leaders gathered at SSM Health St. Francis Hospital on Friday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony officially dedicating a new cancer clinic and chemotherapy infusion center.
The 3,500-square-foot facility, created from renovated space formerly comprising seven patient rooms, embraces a private infusion room, a blood-drawing room, six curtained infusion bays, examination rooms, nurse stations and a physician office area.
The oncology center opened June 12 and is headed by cancer specialist Dr. Rolando Breier.
Breier holds a medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine in Argentina and completed his medical training during a residency at Metropolitan Hospital Center in New York.
Subsequent fellowships included work in pain and palliative care at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and hematology and medical oncology at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Breier is currently board certified in oncology, internal medicine and hospice and palliative medicine.
In conjunction with developing the cancer center, St. Francis has enhanced its pharmacy operation so that chemotherapy drugs can be prepared on site.
Andrea Sandusky-Ury, a registered nurse who serves as the infusion center’s manager, said the new facility will enhance patient privacy and provide a more supportive environment for those experiencing fatigue and discomfort.
Infusion bay recliners, for example, are deeply padded, heated and equipped with a massage function.
“It’s terrific,” said Breirer, who described the facility as one of the better infusion units he’s seen. “It’s really well done.”
St. Francis President Mike Baumgartner said the center was constructed at a cost of about $650,000. Those funds were allocated from the hospital’s capital improvements budget with additional support provided by the St. Francis Foundation.
The center is the latest in a series of completed or proposed new facilities at St. Francis. A significantly enlarged and reequipped emergency department and trauma center opened last September, and a $3.2 million early childhood education and daycare center is planned for completion next year.
Completion of the infusion area means that St. Francis now houses two cancer treatment facilities.
The St. Joseph Oncology Cancer Clinic, a Mosaic Life Care affiliate located in the Maryville Medical Building just south of the hospital, is open Mondays and Thursdays and staffed by physicians Robert Weigand and Rony Abou Jawde.
Baumgartner said plans call for combining the two clinics in the newly constructed space sometime next year.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Andrea Sandusky-Ury, a registered nurse serving as manager of the new chemotherapy infusion center at St. Francis Hospital in Maryville, stands inside one of the facility’s six infusion bays. Designed to enhance patient privacy and comfort, the bays contain deeply padded recliners equipped with heaters and a massage function.
