Henry Ford Health System has hired breast cancer surgeon Dr. Lisa Newman to lead its new breast cancer research center that will be a part of Henry Ford’s $110 million Detroit Cancer Center that’s expected to open in the summer of 2018.
The planned five-story, 144,000-square-foot facility will be located across West Grand Boulevard from Henry Ford’s main campus. The project is part of a 300-acre science and technology campus that recently saw the addition of a 275,000 medical distribution facility for Cardinal Health, which was facilitated by Kirco Development in Troy.
“The (new cancer) facility will be modern in its technology and, most importantly, address the physical and emotional needs of our cancer patients by offering greater flexibility with their care, and expanded support services for the duration of their disease,” says Dr. John Popovich Jr., president and CEO of Henry Ford Health System.
Popovich says the center will offer express cancer services through a cancer-specific urgent care; expanded patient concierge services; on-site exercise, fitness, and nutrition planning; and retail cancer services, including personal care items and food services directed to the tastes of cancer patients. He says the cancer center will also have a rooftop garden and skywalk to connect it to Henry Ford Hospital.
Newman will serve as the director of the breast cancer program at Henry Ford. Prior to joining the health system, she was a professor of surgery and director of the breast care center at the University of Michigan’s Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Newman, who begins work this month, brings three associates with her to the position: two from the University of Michigan and one from the Moffitt Cancer Center.
The new surgeons include Dr. Jessica Bensenhaver, a breast cancer surgeon specializing in benign and malignant breast diseases; Dr. Dunya Attisha, a microvascular plastic and reconstructive surgeon; and Dr. Monique Swai, an obstetrics and gynecology surgeon who specializes in women at high risk for breast cancer. They will join current Henry Ford surgical breast oncologists Dr. David Nathanson and Dr. Erica Proctor.
Newman will also serve as director of the Breast Cancer Global Health Research Program and founding medical director of the International Center for the Study of Breast Cancer Subtypes at Henry Ford.
