Hospital gets funding for PET cancer scanner

Queens Hospital Center, after receiving additional funding by the City Council, now has enough money to purchase a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) CT scanner, which is the latest tool in cancer detection technology.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Councilmembers James Gennaro, Leroy Comrie and David Weprin, former Borough President Claire Shulman and current Borough President Helen Marshall were all on hand to present the remain $1.2 million to hospital executive director Antonio D. Martin on Thursday, July 20. Councilmember John Liu also helped the funding effort. The hospital had already acquired $1.1 from state officials.
&#8220The Queens Cancer Center of Queens Hospital is a leader in the fight against cancer. The acquisition of a PET-CT scanner will further enhance the good work of our cancer center in identifying and treating late-stage cancers that disproportionately affect this community,” Martin said. &#8220We look forward to working collaboratively with the members of the Council to provide our community with the most innovative cancer treatments available. The PET-CT scanner will undoubtedly save countless lives.”
&#8220There was never a doubt in this tough budget year,” Gennaro said about finding the funding for the PET scanner.
Weprin added, &#8220It's really a labor of love.”
Queens is said to have a rate of cancer that is two or three times higher than that of the national average. Quinn said that it was important to put the PET-CT scanner in a public hospital so that residents throughout the borough, regardless of health insurance, can benefit from it.
Queens Hospital Center, located at 82-70 164th Street in Jamaica, has a Cancer Center of Excellence. As its newest addition, the PET-CT scanner is a medical imaging tool that produces digital pictures that help to identify various forms of cancer, areas of heart tissue that are damaged and some brain disorders.
&#8220PET scanners are the latest in cutting edge technology to identify cancerous cells anywhere in the body, and they are used to screen patients for metastases as well as monitor the efficiency of chemotherapy,” said New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation president Alan D. Aviles. &#8220With the addition of this new state-of-the-art equipment, there is every reason to believe that the Queens Cancer Center will remain at the forefront of cancer care not only in Queens, but throughout the city.”
Comrie said that this investment in Queens Hospital Center is only the start of the Council's dedication to the hospital.
&#8220This is a wonderful hospital to be in,” he said. &#8220Our commitment is not over to this hospital; it's just the beginning.”