More than 150 people turned out to celebrate the opening of the Upstate Cancer Center at Verona Sept. 26.

Dignitaries cut the ribbon and then threw open the doors to the public for tours of the gleaming facility that encompasses 30,000 square, featuring expanded diagnostic and treatment services and spaces for all cancers that will provide medical oncology, radiation therapy, surgical subspecialties, radiology, laboratory, pharmacy, consultative services. The public a a cancer-fighting arsenal that includes the Varian TrueBeam, a radiotherapy system that helps deliver powerful cancer treatments with pinpoint accuracy.

The light-filled infusion space features 15 chairs. The light and airy feel of the facility carries through the entire building with a spacious center registration and waiting area. Like the Upstate Cancer Center and the Nappi Wellness Institute, the Upstate Cancer Center at Verona is decorated with work from artists across Central York.

Ample on-site parking is available.

The location of the Cancer Center at Verona, at the intersection of routes 365 and 31 is important and came about after a long search.

“We’ve been serving this community for almost 30 years and we wanted to bring the next generation of cancer care to this region, so we’ve been planning for a long while to make this happen,” said Upstate University Hospital CEO Robert Corona, DO, MBA.

The center is located on Oneida Indian Nation land, thus marking it the first time in history, that an Indian nation and the State of New York have come together to build an innovative medical facility for an entire region on Indian lands, according to the Oneida Indian Nation.

Oneida Indian National representative Ray Halbritter, CEO of Oneida Nation Enterprise, presented a leather medicine bag made by Nation representatives to Corona and credited many with making this singular opportunity possible.

Cancer survivor Dixie Enos offered the audience her assessment of the outstanding care she has received as a patient of the Upstate Cancer Center and the bright future the center presents to others like her.

“The new Upstate Cancer Center isn’t just a facility; it’s a promise to all those who walk through the doors. It’s a promise of cutting-edge care, of innovative research that promises to unravel the mysteries of cancer. It’s a promise to the community that no one fights alone,” she said. 

Others offering remarks included Thomas Vandermeer, MD, interim director of the Upstate Cancer Center; Thomas Valenti, principal of the Cameron Group, LLC; Brian Thompson, MD, Upstate assistant dean for diversity and a member of the Wolf Clan, Oneida Indian Nation; Gennady Bratslavsky, MD, Phillip Capozzi M.D., Endowed Professor of Urology; Linda Schicker, MD, assistant professor of radiology. Benedictions were offered by the Rev. Terry Culbertson and the Rev. Perry Mouncy, both of Upstate.

Valerie Grey, SUNY senior vice chancellor for academic health and hospital affairs, offered congratulations on behalf of Chancellor John B. King, Jr.

With the opening of the Verona facility, the Upstate Cancer Center now provides services in numerous locations, including the Patricia J. Numann Center for Breast, Endocrine & Plastic Surgery, Waters Center for Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders, the Upstate Cancer Center (Gynecologic Oncology) at Madison Irving Medical Center, Upstate Cancer Center at Hill Medical Center, Gamma Knife Center at Upstate University Hospital, Upstate Cancer Center at Upstate Community Hospital, Upstate Cancer Center at Oswego.

The center is expected to see its first patients in October.