SYRACUSE — The Upstate Cancer Center at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University is on track to open in December 2013.
The 100,000-square-foot, five-story building is currently going up on the Upstate campus at the corner of East Adams and Almond streets in Syracuse. Work on the $74 million project began last year.
Upstate is in the third year of a three-year $15 million capital campaign to raise funds for the center. The campaign has brought in more than $12 million so far, says Richard Kilburg, associate administrator for the cancer center. The remaining financing is coming from bonds.
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The center’s construction is receiving no financial support from the state, Kilburg says.
When complete, the Upstate Cancer Center will see as many as 2,000 new patients a year and will probably total more than 100,000 visits annually. The building will house all of Upstate’s cancer services, which are currently spread throughout its facilities.
The cancer center will be physically connected to both Upstate’s University Hospital and its oncology building, currently located next to the construction site. The oncology building will be converted to office space after the cancer center opens since all its functions will move to the new building, Kilburg says.
He estimates than 150 to 200 people will work in the cancer center once it opens. The construction project itself is creating about 300 jobs, according to Upstate.
Having all of Upstate’s cancer services in one place will allow for better coordination and access for patients, Kilburg says. A whole section of the building will be dedicated to multidisciplinary care.
That will allow patients to meet with multiple providers at once, Kilburg says, rather than going to separate appointments with a breast surgeon, a radiation specialist, and on oncologist, for example. Instead, all those providers will meet with a patient at the same time and come up with one agreed upon treatment plan.
“It will speed up care,” Kilburg says. “And make it more convenient for the patient.”
The new building will also feature a rooftop healing garden, a three-story atrium, a family resource center, a meditation room, and space for social workers and other counselors, he adds. Most cancer care is conducted on an outpatient basis.
Patients requiring surgery will continue to have their operations performed at Upstate’s University Hospital.
Upstate plans to submit the center for silver certification in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) once it is complete. The project’s general contractor is LeChase Construction of Rochester. LeChase has a Syracuse office.
The architect is Ewing Cole.
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