The center is scheduled to open in December 2017.
MONTVALE -- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's outpatient treatment center in Montvale won't open until late 2017.
But the cancer center is already providing CT scans to local patients in a modular until on its Montvale property.
Dr. Richard Barakat, deputy physician-in-chief for Memorial Sloan Kettering's Regional Care Network, said he hopes patients of the completed facility will feel like they're being treated at the Memorial Hospital in Manhattan. Patients won't be able to go to Montvale for surgery, but the center will house all other cancer treatments, including chemotherapy, radiation, imaging and support services.
Memorial Sloan Kettering also plans to conduct advanced clinical trials to the Montvale center.
Many residents living near Montvale already travel to Memorial Sloan Kettering's Manhattan locations, Barakat said. That includes Ann Gatto, who attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday. Gatto, 84, traveled every three weeks from her home in Hasbrouck Heights to Manhattan to be treated at various times for Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, liposarcoma and lung cancer.
The planned center is a way to bring care to patients like Gatto and save them a trip, Barakat said.
"It can be quite arduous for patients who are receiving often difficult treatments," he said.
Work has started to repurpose an existing office building at the Summit Avenue site for medical use.
In recent months, Memorial Sloan Kettering has opened outpatient facilities in Westchester County, N.Y., Long Island and most recently, Middletown, N.J.
Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.