To further advance its reputation for innovative cancer treatments, clinical research and outstanding patient services, the North Shore-LIJ Health System today announced the appointment of medical oncologist Richard J. Gralla, MD, as chief of hematology-oncology and vice president of cancer services at North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) and LIJ Medical Center.

“Dr. Gralla’s leadership abilities and experience in managing multidisciplinary cancer teams, coupled with his strong commitment to patient-centered care, will elevate our cancer services to a new level,” said Lawrence Smith, MD, chief medical officer of the North Shore-LIJ Health System. “With his vision and expertise, we will be able to strengthen existing oncology programs, marshal our extraordinary talent and resources, and continue to build on promising cancer research.”

Dr. Gralla said he has long been familiar with LIJ’s and NSUH’s outstanding reputation in oncology and the prominence of many of its clinicians and cancer researchers. “It would be difficult to find a cancer center with better credentials than those of LIJ’s Kanti Rai, MD, for instance, who has made remarkable and enormous contributions in the field of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.” said Dr. Gralla. “North Shore-LIJ’s cancer programs are a hidden gem in the community; with programs, physicians and hospitals that have been recognized nationally for their excellence.” Dr. Gralla will work with approximately 30 full-time medical oncologists at NSUH and LIJ, serve a liaison with surgical oncologists and coordinate cancer services at the health system’s community hospitals.

“Our top priority is to ensure that patients receive high quality, expert cancer care and that our physicians, nurses, social workers and other staff members provide services in a caring and compassionate way,” said Dr. Gralla.

At the Monter Cancer Center, Dr. Gralla noted that a staff member known as a “navigator” helps patients access multidisciplinary cancer services. “When a patient or family member calls, we want to get to know each individual very quickly, direct them to the correct physician, and make it easier for them to see a surgeon or provide diagnostic imaging information right away,” Dr. Gralla said. “It’s also quite beneficial to patients that we offer radiologic services, urology, radiation oncology and ambulatory surgery in the same facility.”

Building upon the model of patient-centered care, Dr. Gralla said he plans to increase the number of support groups offered by NSUH and LIJ, as well as help patients get concrete services at home. Dr. Gralla, an authority on assessing quality of life issues for patients undergoing cancer treatment, plans to implement new research in this area, equipping physicians with hand-held computers so they can quickly gather and document information about patients’ wants and needs. “What patients tell us about their quality of life, in areas such as shortness of breath or depression, for example, helps us make better clinical decisions,” he said.

Dr. Gralla is the author of over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and reviews in cancer medicine. He also serves on several editorial boards of medical journals and is active in numerous professional societies, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer; he is past president of the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer. Dr. Gralla is professor of medicine at Columbia University and he is president of the New York Lung Cancer Alliance.

Dr. Gralla received his medical degree from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, and a bachelor’s degree from Brown University in Providence, RI. He completed a clinical fellowship in medical oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and subsequently a National Cancer Institutes Research fellowship at Sloan-Kettering.

North Shore-LIJ’s cancer services offer a comprehensive patient-centered, disease-specific approach to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through surgical oncology, medical oncology and hematology, urologic oncology and radiation oncology. Major cancer care programs include: breast, colon and rectal, gynecologic, hematologic, lung, esophagus, head and neck, urologic and acute and chronic lymphocyctic leukemia. The health system’s Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplantation Program is largest of its kind on Long Island. Patients with all types of brain tumors are treated at North Shore-LIJ’s Harvey Cushing Brain Tumor Institute.

Media Contact: Betty Olt 516-465-2645