Fox Chase to weigh a new site

After years of testy negotiations with neighbors about its expansion plans into nearby Burholme Park, Fox Chase Cancer Center's board next week will consider alternate locations in the region for a new campus.

Michael V. Seiden, president and chief executive officer of Fox Chase, said the hospital's current facilities in Northeast Philadelphia are aging and crowded, and the hospital cannot assume that a legal dispute over the park expansion plan will end in its favor.

Seiden said Fox Chase would continue to operate its current 84-bed hospital. The big question, he said, is "Where's our new 80- to 150-bed hospital going to go? And that's going to take acres." Expanding capacity to meet demand for the hospital's cancer treatment and research likely would cost $1 billion to $2 billion, he said.

The hospital's current cramped location and uncertainty over the expansion is making it difficult to recruit physicians, he added.

The hospital's board of directors is to discuss expansion options at its meeting Thursday. At most, the board will endorse a particular approach and ask for further information, said Franklin Hoke, senior director of public affairs. He said it is "equally likely" they'll defer any decisions.

For several years, Fox Chase has been seeking approval to expand into Burholme Park. Opponents contend that the will of Robert Waln Ryerss, whose bequest made the 69-acre park possible, would be violated by letting the hospital build on park land. Supporters argue the 19 acres Fox Chase wants is now used as a driving range.

City Council finally approved the project in March, but it still faces a challenge in Orphans Court.

Seiden declined to discuss other locations the hospital is considering. He said Fox Chase might decide to build somewhere else instead of Burholme Park, if the approval to build there is not secured. Even if the Burholme Park expansion is approved, the hospital might also build in another location, he said.

Seiden said hospital officials have said for several months that they're considering alternatives. "We weren't threatening," he said. "We really are looking."

Fox Chase is one of two National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer centers in the region. The other is the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center. Thomas Jefferson University's Kimmel Cancer Center is an NCI cancer center, a designation given to facilities with somewhat less comprehensive research programs.

Fox Chase also faces competition from community hospitals, including nearby Abington Memorial Hospital, which have been significantly expanding services to cancer patients.

Even as its rivals grow, Fox Chase has been attracting far more patients. Twenty years ago, it saw 1,200 new patient a year. By 2006, there were 6,500. Last year, Fox Chase had 8,000 new patients.