Sometimes it’s amazing to consider just what a difference bricks and mortar, steel and glass will let you accomplish.
In the case of the new St. Elizabeth Cancer Center, the six-story, $130 million building will be ground zero for the fight against what Northern Kentucky doctors call “a scourge on our population.”
“Cancer is the number one killer in Northern Kentucky, and Kentucky has one of the highest cancer-related death rates in the United States,” says Doug Flora, a medical oncologist and executive medical director of the new St. Elizabeth Cancer Center. “We wanted to do something to stop that onslaught.”
The Cancer Center, under construction on four acres of the 136-acre St. Elizabeth campus in Edgewood, is on schedule to open in early fall of 2020. It will become the region’s largest cancer treatment facility. Flora says they are evaluating prospective donors for naming rights.
Bringing cancer care under one roof facilitates treatment in a number of areas, from permitting a more holistic, multi-disciplinary approach to providing an infrastructure for clinical trials.
“I’m proud the building is designed from the patient perspective rather than a traditional design around what the medical team wants,” Flora says. “We have an active patient advisory council we rely on to steer us toward things patients and survivors find important and convenient. That is exciting and long overdue.”
Flora cites as an example the breast cancer patient who may have to bounce between different offices to get a mammogram, a biopsy, consult with a surgeon and an oncologist, not to mention find help to wade through insurance issues.
“It’s very challenging for the patient. Our approach will be to have this happen all in one place,” Flora says. “They also will have financial counselors and social workers, nutrition, nursing and navigation all right there. It’s about taking care of the whole person, not just the tumor.”
Flora is also proud of the team he has assembled in the Center for Precision Medicine and Genomic Health. Since the trend in cancer treatment is to understand each cancer unique to the individual, patients will receive state-of-the-art screening and treatment based on genetic information.
“Medicine has reached a level of technology where it is no longer one size fits all,” Flora says. “Technology lets us run genetic tests from a swab of a patient’s cheek to understand which drugs might be most effective and safe, and understand the molecular structure of each cancer.”
The new building permits St. Elizabeth to significantly increase participation in medical trials, the key to finding cancer cures.
“A building like this is necessary to support these levels of trials and it will attract a new talent level to our region. We have already seen that the promise of this new center is helping me recruit physicians interested in bringing clinical research to our region who might otherwise have chosen to go elsewhere.”
The ground floor of the building is designed with patient service in mind. It will have an integrated oncology center and a demonstration kitchen to teach people healthy eating during or after cancer care. There will be education pavilions for various activities, such as tobacco cessation strategies. Space is dedicated to counseling and social work along with yoga, acupuncture, mindful meditation, massage, aromatherapy, art and music therapy.
“We are trying to make this first floor a community center for people and families who are affected by cancer. Whether you need prayer in a sanctuary or need socialization with other cancer patients, we are really trying to lift people up at their lowest times.”
For more information, visit www.stelizabeth.com