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Temple Health's Fox Chase Cancer Center is opening its first New Jersey location as part of an ongoing effort to improve access to advanced oncological care.
The 4,800-square-foot office in Voorhees, set to open April 8 at 502 Centennial Blvd., will initially provide treatments for urologic oncology, benign urologic conditions, plastic and reconstructive surgery, and radiation oncology consults.
Fox Chase Cancer Center CEO Robert Uzzo said about 20% of its patients come to Philadelphia from South Jersey.
"[New Jersey] patients frequently find themselves commuting from there to here, which is obviously inconvenient for them, but they will do it for the quality of care," Uzzo said. "Our strategic plan — as the cancer problem grows, the population ages and new therapies become more complicated in their administration — is to extend the care we provide to patients in the communities where they live."
Uzzo described the expansion as "very organic," with a plan to deliver the care with its own providers and not outsource any of the work.
The Voorhees practice site will enable Fox Chase Cancer Center to establish a relationship with new patients in the South Jersey marketplace and maintain relationships with its existing patients there.
The new office will be staffed by providers in prostate cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, adrenal mass, testicular cancer, penile cancer, ureteral cancer, and urethral cancer. The site will also have providers treat conditions such as benign prostatic hyperplasia, hematuria, kidney stones, erectile dysfunction, and urethral stricture.
Uzzo said plans are to expand services for other types of cancer in the future.
Other services that will be offered in Voorhees include plastic and reconstructive surgery consultations in breast, head, and neck sarcomas, and radiation oncology consults are available for prostate cancer and bladder cancer patients.
The office will be opening with seven physicians splitting their time between Voorhees and Fox Chase Cancer Center on Cottman Avenue in Philadelphia. The Voorhees site will also seven full-time administrative staff members and two part-time advanced practice providers.
Physicians who will spend time in Voorhees include Dr. Alexander Kutikov, chairman of the department of urology at Fox Chase; Dr. Eric Horwitz, chairman of the department of radiation oncology; Dr. Sameer Patel, chief of the division of plastic and reconstructive surgery; and Dr. Andres Correa, director of research for the department of urology. The four doctors have 65 years of experience at Fox Chase.
The South Jersey expansion follows last year's launch of the Fox Chase-Temple Urologic Institute. The institute, which focuses on both benign and oncologic urology, has more than 30 providers who provide services at multiple locations throughout Greater Philadelphia.
Uzzo, who is also executive director of the Fox Chase–Temple Urologic Institute and a specialist in urologic oncology, said the formation of the institute was the impetus for establishing the Voorhees office. "We are really a dominant force in urology in Pennsylvania, and we think that is something we can offer to the residents of New Jersey as well," he said.
Elsewhere, Fox Chase Cancer Center is spending $1.9 million to expand its outpatient care center in Buckingham, a Bucks County radiation therapy site that opened in 2009.
Uzzo said an eight-chair infusion room has already opened at the site and has a diagnostic imaging unit. Future plans include a dedicated space for "theranostics," which Uzzo explained is a growing area in cancer care where separate radioactive drugs are used to identify and treat cancerous tumors.
Fox Chase Cancer Center also recently acquired a dermatology practice near the Buckingham center, a move Uzzo said will expand its presence and services in Bucks County.
In fiscal 2023, Fox Chase Cancer Center posted an operating loss of nearly $14 million and generated revenue of $241.5 million.
