Mather Hospital Expands Infusion Center

expanded its Infusion Center from six to 13 chairs with the help of a $1.5 million Health Care Efficiency and Affordability Law of New York State  (HEAL NY) grant last month increasing the number of patients the hospital can treat who require intravenous therapies such as chemotherapy and blood transfusions. The HEAL NY grant program was started in 2009 to help further reforms to New York's health care system.

The Infusion Center is located on the first floor of the Frey Family Foundation Medical Arts Building off Belle Terre Road on the campus of Mather Hospital.

"Infusion therapy involves the administration of medication and treatments through a needle or catheter," said Joann Connor, director of medical surgical services at Mather Hospital. "It's prescribed when a patient's condition cannot be treated effectively by oral medications."

According to Connor, infusion therapy is for patients who are undergoing chemotherapy as well treatment for other diseases such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, and Crohn's disease.

"Outpatient infusion therapy is also a treatment option for some hematological, rheumatologic, gynecological and kidney disorders," she said.

Twenty years ago patients who needed this type of therapy had to be admitted to a hospital but advancements in medical technology mean infusion therapy can be given in an outpatient setting.

"For those patients requiring long-term therapy, the outpatient setting enables them to resume a relatively normal lifestyle and work activities," said Connor.

The hospital expanded its existing Infusion Center to accommodate increased demand in the community for outpatient infusion services for an aging, chronically ill population requiring IV treatments for a variety of medical reasons.

Nicole Ghokassian, the daughter of an infusion patient performed the ribbon cutting during a ceremony on Oct. 29 to celebrate the expansion. Ghokassian spoke from the heart about her family's experience at the center, where her mother, Terry Portala, was a patient for eight years.

With a newly expanded Infusion Center Mather Hospital plans on treating many more patients like Terry Portala who need medical injection therapy.

Up to the end of September the hospital had 2,173 patient visits to the Infusion Center for the year. In September alone they had 240 patients visits. The hospital hopes to increase the number of treatments it can provide with the additional chairs.