EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. -- Advanced cancer care is now available at a hospital in the Poconos.
Lehigh Valley Hospital Pocono will now offer more care and clinical trials at its Dale and Frances Hughes Cancer Center in East Stroudsburg thanks to a new partnership.
Lehigh Valley Cancer Institute's membership in the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Alliance has been extended to Monroe County.
The partnership allows people in the Poconos better access to cancer care closer to home.
Ken Kolakowski from Bushkill is being treated for cancer at the Dale and Frances Hughes Cancer Center at Lehigh Valley Hospital Pocono in East Stroudsburg. He's also in one of the center's new clinical trials thanks to a new partnership with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Alliance.
"I think it's phenomenal," Kolakowski said. "I grew up just outside of Manhattan and everyone always said if you got cancer, you went to Sloan. I was thrilled when my primary-care doctor told me that Sloan was down Lehigh Valley."
Lehigh Valley Cancer Institute's membership in the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Alliance has been extended to Monroe County.
The partnership will bring advanced cancer treatment to the Poconos as well as clinical trials.
"It's very important that we take our standards of care and share them with our alliance partners," said Dr. David Pfister, Memorial Sloan Kettering.
Hospital officials say the goal of this partnership is to make sure people in the Poconos have access to state-of-the-art cancer care, right here at home.
"For patients in Pennsylvania to be able to stay close to home, close to their loved ones, and be able to get the highest brand of care -- it's peace of mind, it's hope for patients and their families," said Dr. Suresh Nair, Lehigh Valley Cancer Institute.
"Fighting cancer is, a lot of, it's a mental game. You can't just get down. Whatever they want to do, you just got to suck it up and get through it because what is the other alternative?" Kolakowski added.
Lehigh Valley Hospital Pocono is also adding more specialty physicians in cancer services following this partnership.