By Stephen K. Peeples

The new 2,000 square-foot Akbar Hasan Infusion Center opened in February at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia. Since then, the center’s staff has seen around 250 mostly Santa Clarita Valley patients per month, for blood transfusions, chemotherapy, antibiotics or other intravenous treatment.

“So far we haven’t had to turn people away like we used to in the old infusion room,” because the new center doubled the number of treatment stations to eight and increased the staffing, said Donna Ferguson, Henry Mayo’s director of outpatient surgery, GI lab, infusion center and breast center.

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“The last infusion center was very small and it was within the hospital, and we had to turn a lot of patients away because we didn’t have room to treat them,” said Mary Csaftis, who works with Ferguson as an outpatient and infusion room nurse.

Akbar Hasan Infusion Center 8 Times Larger

Built into a medical office building on the Henry Mayo campus, the Hasan Infusion Center is eight times larger than the old room inside the main hospital. Its new location is easier to get to and more private for patients. Two full-time registered nurses and a certified nursing assistant greet and treat each patient as prescribed by the patient’s doctor or oncologist.

“The goal for moving to a different building was to give patients a much more comfortable environment where they can rest peacefully and have their infusions, without the trauma of coming into the hospital, getting stressed out about the small area and the noise,” Csaftis said. “We’re able to make them more comfortable and treat more patients at one time.”

Designers certainly had patients in mind when calling for walls painted in soothing earth tones. Adorning the walls are enlargements of beautiful nature scenes taken by noted Santa Clarita photographer Yoti Telio. Natural lighting from large windows with pleasant views adds warmth to the room.

“It’s very bright and cheery,” Ferguson said. “Yoti donated 14 pieces of art, and they’re just beautiful. And one whole long wall of the center is windows with trees outside. There’s a hummingbird in (the trees). It’s also very peaceful.”

Infusion treatment times can range from one to several hours. Some patients want to spend that time visiting. Others would rather watch TV, surf the Web, read, write, take a nap, solve a puzzle or play a game. The room is big enough to accommodate all.

“We have comfortable chairs for patients’ family and friends to come sit with them,” Ferguson said. “We have iPads and Internet. We’re arranging for some television. Recently, we set up a game table because the patients said, ‘It would be nice to do puzzles or play games while we’re here.’ There’s so much room in that room.”

Who Was Akbar Hasan?

Henry Mayo named its new infusion center after a major benefactor who made a posthumous donation.

“Akbar Hasan was a gentleman who, before he succumbed to cancer last year, asked his caregiver, Haida Sheikh, to donate a generous portion of his wealth to a worthy cancer treatment facility,” Ferguson said. “Ms. Sheikh learned of Henry Mayo’s new infusion center through her friend, Dr. Rashida Soni, one of our pathologists. After visiting the hospital and learning of our commitment to cancer patients, Ms. Sheikh knew she had found the right facility to receive Mr. Hasan’s donation.”

Pictured at the Akbar Hasan Infusion Center’s opening reception on March 4, 2013 are (seated): Haida Sheikh, the donor’s caregiver; and Dr. Rashida Soni, a Henry Mayo pathologist. Standing: Lenny Tsuda, RN; Michelle Roche, patient who spoke at the opening; Roger Seaver, Henry Mayo CEO; Diana Vose, Henry Mayo Foundation president; Donna Ferguson, RN and director of the Infusion Center; Mary Csaftis, RN; and Erika Castro, CNA.

Ferguson and Csaftis welcome potential infusion patients to visit the new facility and check it out. “Just come up to the room and tell the secretary/CNA at the front desk you’d like a tour, and she’ll come get one of us RN’s,” Csaftis said. “We’ll just walk around and show you what we have and what you could look forward to by having your treatment here.”

The Akbar Hasan Infusion Center at Henry Mayo is located at 23929 McBean Parkway, Suite 208, Valencia 91355. For more information, call 661-253-8005 or visit www.henrymayo.com.

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