NY hospitals object as Sloan-Kettering plans suburban expansion

Local hospitals in Westchester County and New York City's other northern suburbs are locked in a battle with a huge Manhattan-based cancer center as it looks to increase its presence in the affluent suburban market. On one side is Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, which wants to set up a free-standing cancer treatment center in Harrison, N.Y., a few minutes from Scarsdale, where the median family income has been about $230,000 a year over the last few years, according to the Census Bureau. On the other side are the community hospitals in the suburbs, which say that if the treatment center is built, they will lose their most affluent, well-insured patients to Memorial's national marketing clout and reputation, even if they provide the same level of care. Both sides are furiously lobbying Albany, where the state health commissioner will make the ultimate decision, based on the recommendation of a planning council that is meeting Thursday.