The Kimelman Cancer Institute is a facility specializing in the treatment and study of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

; it is located in

Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Saint Thomas (, , ) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea, and a constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. Along with surrounding minor islands, it is one of t ...

. It is part of the Schneider Regional Center's (SRC)three-pronged cancer program that includes the Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute (CKCI), The Roy Lester Schneider Hospital (RLSH) and the Myrah Keating Smith Community Health (MKSCH) Center., and was founded by Charlotte Kimelman and her late husband, former US Ambassador, Henry L. Kimelman. SRC's collaborative, comprehensive cancer program is a centralized facility staffed with physicians, specialists, hospital and other support care professionals. CKCI's 165-bed facility is a, “24,000 square foot state-of-the-art, comprehensive cancer center,” located in St. Thomas, USVI. Providing a variety of healing services from radiation oncology, surgical consultations, clinical research and support housed in a single facility, CKCI's mission is to provide access to, “highly supportive, individualized and holistic care,” to cancer patients throughout the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. Operating under the direction of medical and administrative leadership, CKCI is a financially autonomous entity, working in conjunction with the overall

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's Etymology, etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγ ...

service line of the SRC. Serving as a referral center for advanced

research, agents and technologies, the Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute extends its reach from regional physicians, health care professionals, hospitals and medical centers within the

to the mainland to find innovations in

treatment and research. Dr. Bert Petersen, currently the Director of the Breast Surgery Clinic of St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, New York and Adjunct Associate Professor of Surgery at

New York University School of Medicine The New York University Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, the other being the NYU G ...

, collaborated with the Kimelmans in the founding of the institute. In 1998, Dr. Petersen, a native of the

U.S. Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...

and a well known

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

surgeon, worked closely with the government of the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands () are an archipelago between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Caribbean Sea, geographically forming part of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, Caribbean islands or West Indie ...

and other entities to encourage support of and investment in the

center. By 2003, the Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute honored Dr. Petersen with the designation of "Physician Champion"http://stthomassource.com/content/news/local-news/2004/12/29/physician-compares-ambulatory-and-cancer-centers , Dr. Contributions to CKCI for his work as a contributing founder, co-project manager, and clinical medical adviser from 1998 to 2005.

References

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External links

Information page at rlshospital.orgHenry Kimelman funeral at healthiscure.com
Cancer organizations based in the United States Medical and health organizations based in the United States Virgin Islands Northside, Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands