Plans for the University's Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center are nearly set in stone, and construction will begin following a ground-breaking ceremony April 12.
University Health System spokesperson Peter Jump said the center will be home to the latest technologies and will offer patients state-of-the-art therapies for cancer treatment. Alongside patient rooms and offices, the center will feature a pharmacy, a women's cancer center and a fashion boutique with wigs for patients undergoing radiation, Jump said, as well as a meditation room and a healing garden.
"All the care that a cancer patient may need will be in one location," said Joshua Scott, associate director of University Development for Cancer Programs and former staff member for the late Sen. Emily Couric, D-Va. "What we're focused on is patient center care ... We're not just treating the disease, we're treating the person."
The center will also offer other forms of support services, especially ones focusing on cancer education, Scott said, as well as a clinical trials office.
Couric, for whom the center will be named, was a senator for the commonwealth, a University alumna and a strong advocate for health care and increased access to health care. She was diagnosed withpancreatic cancer in 2000 and died in 2001.
Scott said Couric once had a vision for a cancer center that seamlessly integrated all the different types of care and support available to patients dealing with a cancer diagnosis.
"What she helped champion was a facility that really put patients first and really made it easy for them," Scott said. "It's a remarkable legacy for Emily, not only for our community, but also for the commonwealth."
Funds to make this vision a reality have come from both the public and private sectors, Jump and Scott said. The commonwealth is providing $25 million for the center, while the University and private donors are paying $20 million and $16 million, respectively, Jump said.
Additional funds will have to be raised to complete the project, Jump added, noting $4 million will be needed to fund a proposed cancer education and research center adjacent to the larger center.
"It will offer patient education and sponsor and outreach programs," Jump said.
As part of the ground-breaking ceremony, Scott said, construction workers will demolish the Lee Street garage across from the University's main hospital. The center, he said, will stand in its place.
Jump said the center is expected to be completed in 2011.
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