Samaritan and Roswell Park announce medical oncology partnership

Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown and Buffalo-based Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo have announced a new affiliation, linking medical oncology services provided at Samaritan’s Walker Center for Cancer Care with the Roswell Park Care Network.

The new affiliation will offer cancer patients in the North Country region access to the latest approaches and best practices in cancer treatment to enhance the quality of medical oncology services available locally.

Beginning Oct.18, the care of medical oncology cancer patients in the Watertown region will have access to leading cancer research, education and prevention services overseen by experts from Roswell Park, the only facility in Central and Upstate New York designated by the National Cancer Institute as a comprehensive cancer center.

Two full-time medical oncologists at the Walker Center — physicians Florence P. Arnold and Ihsan U. Haq — will become employees of the Roswell Park Care Network and will continue to provide care for their patients at the Walker Center location. Patients at the Walker Center will benefit from enhanced capabilities and resources offered by the expanding Roswell Park Care Network, which is the most expansive community cancer, supportive and specialized care affiliation across New York state.