Yale-New Haven seeks approval for cancer center

Yale-New Haven (Conn.) Hospital is in the preliminary stages of planning a new comprehensive cancer center, requesting state approval for a $19.9 million site preparation proposal that would tear down an existing building, relocate major utilities and provide funding for architectural and programming planning. Assuming the certificate of need is approved, the board would not move forward with plans to develop clinical services at the site before the fall, said Vincent Petrini, a Yale-New Haven spokesman. "We envision if we were to move forward with construction, it would be a comprehensive cancer center," he said. In recent years, the hospital has experienced exceptional growth, projecting to discharge more than 47,000 hospital patients this year compared to 39,000 patients in 1999, he said. In the 20 years prior, inpatient discharges increased from 30,000 to 39,000, Petrini added. -- by Cinda Becker