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Our Practice History

In 1978, Drs. Paul M. Hyman, and Mark D. Lipshutz opened their practice in Huntington to care for people with cancer and blood diseases.  Two years later, they opened an office in Bay Shore, and over the years their practice grew to include Kenneth D. Gold, MD, Mary Puccio, MD, John J. Loscalzo, MD and Douglas E. Gladstone, MD.  Each physician in the practice is triple board certified in hematology, oncology, and internal medicine. Our newest addition to our practice is Virginia Ott, Oncology Nurse Practitioner who brings an exciting new dimension to our patient care.

Today, with a single office in Bay Shore the group – Hematology Oncology Associates of W. Suffolk, P.C. – offers patients a unique approach to care.

At Hematology Oncology Associates of W. Suffolk, each patient can be seen by each member of the practice.  This ensures patients that if one doctor is on vacation, or if there is an emergency, they will be familiar with the doctor who sees them and the doctor will be familiar with them.

“When we first came here,” Dr. Hyman says, “there was only one other oncologist in the area and care for oncology patients was relatively rudimentary.  We were welcomed very enthusiastically by both medical professionals and the public.”

Now Chief of Hematology Oncology at Southside Hospital, Dr. Hyman says the greatest change he’s seen in his practice is in the way cancer is treated.

Dr. Lipshutz, Chief of Hematology Oncology at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip agrees.  “The biggest change over the years has been the earlier use of chemotherapy.  It used to be that a person with cancer was treated first with surgery, then radiation, then chemotherapy.  In the 1960s, we began to realize the curative potential of chemotherapy on Hodgkin’s disease.  Then, in the 1970s, we saw it used with testicular cancer.  As the years have gone by, new therapies have been added and we are much more successful in treating cancer.”

The physicians at Hematology Oncology Associates of W. Suffolk offer patients – in addition to standard treatments – clinical trials of new therapies.

Their practice philosophy is explained in a brochure given to patients and is clearly based on understanding the needs and concerns of their patients.  They encourage patients and families to call them with questions and, if they reach the service and do not receive a return call within a half hour, encourage the patients to call again.  One of the physicians in the group is on call 24/7.

Dr. Hyman notes that, today, “many patients are treated right here, in the community.  When we first came here many people were leaving the community to be treated.  Today, they can be near their families and in familiar surroundings.  It helps to make treatment successful.”