Photo / Tim Greenway
Brandon Hotham, interim president and CEO at the Dempsey Center, in the nonprofit’s new space at Rock Row.
Updated: 9 hours ago
In Westbrook, new cancer center at Rock Row offers comprehensive care in a comforting setting
Photo / Tim Greenway
Dr. Chiara Battelli, left, president of New England Cancer Specialists, and COO Claire Cote oversee the newest treatment center, at Rock Row in Westbrook.
New England Cancer Specialists’ newly opened facility at Westbrook’s Rock Row is designed to treat all of a patient’s needs — physical, mental and emotional — in one location. By offering a full range of diagnostic tests, treatments and support services under one roof, the center aims to ease some of the anxiety of the cancer experience.
Mainebiz got a tour of the 71,000-square-foot facility in late February, with Claire Cote, the center’s chief operations officer.
The high-ceilinged building is flooded with natural light. The design aesthetic is contemporary, yet warm. Walls and furnishings are soothing shades of blue, light grey and cream. Large windows offer views to the wooded areas that dot the property.
Page Architecture, with offices from Boston to San Francisco, managed the building’s design, with patient input on floor plans, lighting, paint colors and even the selection of art for the walls.
The goal is to provide the highest level of care in a comforting environment.
“There are 10,000 firsts when you walk in our doors. Anxiety is high, we understand that. I myself have had cancer twice, once as a child and once as an adult. I know what our patients are going through,” Cote says.
In fact, 60% of the staff at the new facility have been touched by the disease, either personally or through a loved one’s diagnosis. That connection informs every aspect of care at the center, where each opportunity for patient comfort seems to have been thoroughly considered.
One example is the infusion area for chemotherapy and other medications. The space is divided into a series of mini-rooms, separated by partitions and with curtains that can be drawn for privacy, features not commonly found in treatment arenas.
Integration of services is a priority
Cote says the vision for the center, “has been four years in the making.”
NECS worked closely with Needham, Mass.-based Waterstone Properties, Rock Row’s developer, to hand-pick partner tenants to fulfill the concept for integrated holistic care.
The $140 million Rock Row health campus is the medical anchor of the 110-acre, $600 million mixed-use development. Already on the property is a mix of retail including Market Basket, REI, Chase, Starbucks and a Chick-fil-A. Plans call for a total of 20 restaurants including a food hall, and 750 housing units will be built at the complex.
The Rock Row facility is the largest of the practice’s four locations — in Kennebunk and Topsham and in Portsmouth, N.H. — and offers the most comprehensive host of services, including testing, imaging, hematology and chemotherapy. On-site surgery and health and nutrition counseling are being phased in over the next few months.
Cote expects to see 10,000 patients annually at the new center, 20,000 total across all of the NECS centers. (The two Scarborough facilities have been consolidated at Rock Row and are now closed.)
Disease numbers in the state largely mirror national statistics, though our rates of lung cancer are higher due to the large number of smokers, Cote notes.
In addition to lung cancer, NECS sees the highest number of patients presenting with cancers of the breast, gastrointestinal system, blood cancers and cancers of the bladder, kidney and prostate.
“Nationally, we’re also seeing younger people getting colon cancer, 20- to 30-year-olds,” Cote says. “We’re catching it earlier, but it’s very concerning and most likely related to diet.”
Partnerships expand care options
The Rock Row center currently has 11 doctors, with access to more through its affiliation with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Cote says patients can take advantage of the institute’s cutting-edge treatments, connect for second opinions and receive shared care with doctors at Rock Row and Dana-Farber’s specialists, without traveling to Boston.
Leading-edge screenings for early detection of liver, ovarian, pancreatic, esophageal and colon cancers, which have been the most elusive to testing, are another piece of the Dana-Farber partnership. “Outcomes are drastically improved when disease is caught early,” Cote says.
In Maine, NECS partners with Central Maine Health Care in Lewiston and Northern Light Health. They work too with the new Dempsey Center, upstairs in the Rock Row building. One of the benefits of that collaboration is visits from the “Dempsey dogs” to comfort patients undergoing infusions.
The NECS center started seeing patients in mid-February and additional services are still being added, including counseling and support for families and caregivers, which Cote says is an essential piece to support healing.
Cancer “surveillance” and “survivorship” services will become dedicated focuses at the center in May. “Survivorship is actually the most anxious time for patients,” Cote says. “When you’ve been in treatment, you’ve had an entire team taking care of you. When treatment is done, you still need support and rehabilitation.
“Saco Bay Physical Therapy will be joining us in April. They’ll provide pre-habilitation to get you strong before you start treatment, which is incredibly valuable,” Cote says.
Plastic and Hand Surgical Center will be coming in September and a stand-alone radiation oncology suite will open next door in June.
“I’m excited for five years from now when we can catch cancers much earlier. To me that’s exciting. What we do is save lives, but everything we do is about giving people more time, that’s the most important thing,” Cote says.
Dempsey Center offers host of support services
Just upstairs from NECS, patients and caregivers can access counseling, exercise classes, massage and Reiki therapy, even acupuncture at the newest location for the Dempsey Center, all at no cost.
Founded in 2008 in Lewiston by actor and Maine-native Patrick Dempsey in the wake of his mother’s cancer, the center had added a second location in South Portland.
That 8,000-square-foot facility has now been replaced with the opening of the facility’s 15,000-square-foot home in Westbrook. The Dempsey Center also operates Clayton House in Portland’s East End which provides accommodations for patients and caregivers who have to travel for cancer treatment.
The large, inviting space on the fourth floor in the NECS building has a dedicated room for yoga and fitness classes. There’s also more space than in the previous South Portland location for patient treatments and group support meetings.
Social time with specially trained furry friends has become a favored part of center visits.
“Our Dempsey dogs also participate in ‘Doga’ yoga classes with our clients. As you can imagine, it is beloved,” says Katelynn Davis, marketing and communications director.
There are currently six teams of dogs, who with their handlers, provide a welcome distraction from the stress of cancer, both in the Dempsey Center and downstairs at NECS.
The “Dempsey Dogs” program is supported by IDEXX Laboratories Inc.
The organization’s $5.17 million budget is funded largely through grants, donations and fundraising events, including the annual Dempsey Challenge bike, run and walk event.
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