WFUBMC Seeks to Build Outpatient Comprehensive Cancer Center

March 21, 2001

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center proposes to build one of the most advanced and complete outpatient cancer treatment facilities in the region, a 257,350-square-foot Outpatient Comprehensive Cancer Center that would consolidate all of its existing oncology services under one roof.

The Medical Center applied March 15 to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services for a Certificate of Need (CON) to build a four-story facility on the northwest side of the Medical Center, one block off Cloverdale Avenue on a site now occupied by the Allied Health Building. The cost of the project is $75 million.

The Radiation Oncology Department and a satellite Outpatient Oncology Pharmacy would occupy the first floor; the second floor would house a Personal Appearance Center, the Cancer Registry, the Cancer Patient Support Program, a meditation room, a food court, and administrative offices. Medical Oncology clinic space, the Clinical Research Management program and the Clinical Laboratory would occupy the third floor. The fourth floor would house the Outpatient Radiology Department, and multi-specialty and Surgical Oncology clinic space.

"For more than 10 years we have been designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute," said Bayard L. Powell, M.D., professor and section head of hematology/oncology, who co-chairs the Medical Center''s Oncology Steering Committee. "This new center will make our full range of services more easily accessible to our patients and their families."

Frank M. Torti, M.D., the director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center, said, "A critical part of the Cancer Center mission is to bring the best care to our patients. In the twenty-first

century, this means integrated, multidisciplinary care. We feel that this project is an important next step in carrying out that mission."

Richard H. Dean, M.D., Medical Center director and senior vice president for health affairs of Wake Forest University, said, "Patients who come to the Comprehensive Cancer Center already benefit from an innovative team approach. The new center will facilitate the team concept, while providing comprehensive, patient-centered services in a single location."

Len B. Preslar, Jr., president and CEO of North Carolina Baptist Hospitals Inc., said the new center will be an appropriate setting for the Medical Center''s leading-edge cancer treatment. "The Outpatient Comprehensive Cancer Center will bring together aspects of the oncology program that are currently dispersed throughout the campus," Preslar said. "Just as Baptist Hospital is known throughout the region for high quality inpatient care, the new center will provide the most focused, comprehensive and convenient outpatient care."

A decision on the CON is expected by Sept. 1. If the application is approved, construction will begin shortly thereafter, with completion expected in the summer of 2003.

The Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University is a national leader in cancer care and research. Ranked among the best treatment facilities in the country, it is one of only 38 cancer centers in the nation designated by the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the only one in western North Carolina. NCI designation is an assurance of excellent care and comprehensive treatment options, including access to the latest clinical trials.

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Contact: Jonnie Rohrer, (336) 716-6972, or Mark Wright, (336) 716-3382.

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