The public can tour the new $150 million, 405,000-square-foot building, located at 1030 W. Michigan St. on the Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis campus, during open houses from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, July 25 and Saturday, July 26.
Patients will be seen in the building in late August.
The IU Simon Cancer Center is the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center that provides patient care. The $150 million expansion of the cancer center is a partnership between the Indiana University School of Medicine and Clarian Health.
The new building demonstrates the commitment of Indiana University and Clarian to the future of cancer care and emphasizes their dedication to the most comprehensive and innovative cancer treatment.
A team approach to patient care
The new building brings cancer care together in one location for the convenience of patients. That approach means a diverse team of professionals with expertise on a specific cancer type work together with patients, addressing the full spectrum of patient and family needs that range from the emotional, psychological, and spiritual. The staff works with each patient to create an individualized and comprehensive care plan.
“The model of the 21st century is to create a place where all needed services are in one building,” Fuad Hammoudeh, Clarian Cancer Programs administrator and IU hematology division administrator, said. “From lab to radiology, chemotherapy to radiation therapy, surgery to support services, the patient and families will need only one location.”
Stephen Williams, M.D., the director of the IU Simon Cancer Center and HH Gregg Professor of Oncology with the IU School of Medicine, added, “The new building’s private patient rooms and other amenities will provide an outstanding environment for the delivery of state-of-the-art inpatient and outpatient care.”
Inside the new building, patients and their families will find a serene natural environment – an environment that patients and caregivers told designers they desired when asked for their input prior to the building’s groundbreaking.
Infusion areas for outpatient chemotherapy will include fireplaces, expansive windows, and privacy screens. On the inpatient floors, family laundry and shower rooms will add convenience for families spending time with a loved one.
The new building will help IU Simon Cancer Center physicians meet the increasing demands for patient care with 80 private beds, a larger area for chemotherapy infusion treatments as well as operating rooms and shell space for future growth.
The IU Simon Cancer Center patient care building will open with its first phase of services: new radiation equipment and surgery suites on the lower level; radiology and guest service areas on the main floor; women’s and hematology clinics and infusion/pharmacy on the second floor; and inpatient beds on the third and fifth floors.
Future phases include completing patient and family education resources, a chapel, and relocating the multidisciplinary and urology clinics to the new building. All services will be finalized within 18 to 24 months.
“This phasing-in process will provide us the benefit of using our initial clinic sites for feedback and service enhancement before the building is ultimately completed,” Hammoudeh said.
The new building will also offer a café and gardens for patients and visitors. The gardens and rooftop areas are designated “green spaces” that meet or exceed the ”Green Guide for Health Care” guidelines, which are modeled from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The green spaces bring patients closer to nature, which studies have shown helps speed recovery.
At the forefront of cancer discovery
Since 1921 with the installation of the first radiation therapy machine at Long Hospital — the precursor to IU Hospital — physicians and researchers at IU have been at the forefront of caring for cancer patients and developing new treatments that have become the standard of care worldwide.
Today at the IU Simon Cancer Center, the physicians treating patients in the clinics interact with the scientists investigating cancer in the laboratories. In all, more than 200 physicians and researchers are working to develop cures for cancer. That teamwork leads to clinical breakthroughs.
Researchers and physicians with the IU Simon Cancer Center have turned the cure rate of testicular cancer from 10 percent to nearly 95 percent today and gained an international recognition for treatment of breast, genitourinary, thoracic, hematologic and gastrointestinal cancers. IU Simon Cancer Center physicians at Riley Hospital for Children and Indiana University Hospital are recognized nationally for their bone marrow and stem cell transplantation program.
“We want to serve all of the citizens of Indiana and beyond,” Patrick Loehrer, M.D., IU Simon Cancer Center medical director, said. “The mission of the IU Simon Cancer Center is to deliver the best possible care for every patient who walks through these doors. We want to affect the course of the disease so that other patients from around the world will benefit from the research and work done here.”