Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is planning a new, nine-story facility on the Washington University Medical Campus dedicated solely to outpatient cancer care. The facility will provide a central home for nearly all aspects of advanced cancer care for outpatients, improving the experience and comfort for patients and their families.
Although the building’s design and construction details are being finalized – and final approval is pending – plans call for a 659,000-square-foot facility on the southwest corner of Forest Park and Taylor avenues. The initial schedule calls for the facility to open in summer 2024.
“Our patients are at the heart of everything we do, and we are putting great care into designing a cancer home that will be comfortable and easily accessible for patients and their family members,” said Timothy J. Eberlein, MD, founding director of Siteman, and the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor and head of the Department of Surgery at the School of Medicine. “As Siteman has continued to grow, we envisioned a setting that could accommodate more patients and additional cancer specialists, in an environment that allows us to continue to offer the highest quality, state-of-the-art outpatient care.”
The new building’s innovative, patient-centered design will mean patients can get most of their care in one setting, with fewer visits to different locations on the Medical Campus. Teams of cancer care specialists – incorporating the latest advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer – as well as support services from social workers, psychologists and others will come to patients in the new center. Patients also will have access to hundreds of clinical trials.
Plans call for the ambulatory care center to include 96 exam rooms, 88 infusion pods, radiology and breast imaging services, and hematology and chemistry laboratory space. An elevated pedestrian link will connect the facility to the rest of the Medical Campus.
Patients will have easy access to the parking garage within the same building and to public transportation. The new facility is also conveniently located next to a hotel for patients from out of town.
The architectural firms Lawrence Group and Perkins Eastman are designing the project, and Clayco, in a joint venture with TW Constructors, will oversee construction. The engineering firm is Ross & Baruzzini.
For two decades, Siteman’s main outpatient location has been the Center for Advanced Medicine, also on the Medical Campus, and the growing cancer center needs more space. Siteman now treats 70,000 people, including 12,000 newly diagnosed patients, each year on the Medical Campus and at five satellite facilities. This includes a growing number of patients who travel from across the country and internationally for treatment.
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