Even in the midst of a pandemic, plans for a cancer campus of the future are speeding ahead at City of Hope. The biomedical institution is in a time of tremendous growth, building more facilities and hiring more clinical and research staff — all to support the increasing number of cancer patients seeking high-quality care.
Two years after receiving approval from the City of Duarte to begin construction on the approximately $1 billion project, City of Hope’s new, state-of-the-art, 100,000-square foot Medical and Administrative Leadership Pavilion (or “the Pavilion”) is complete, and teams are settling into their new surroundings. The Pavilion houses the departments of Surgery, Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and Pediatrics.
The Pavilion’s curved shape was designed to provide a larger scale “statement” to the east, creating an impressive view from the 605 freeway, while presenting a more textural scale on the west side.
The building design is a contemporary approach focused on efficiency and flexibility, intended to allow staff to work comfortably individually and collaborate safely as needed. The modern design supports both the heads-down work that is critical to clinical and research staff and facilitates the teamwork essential to addressing cancer prevention, treatment and care issues for patients.
The opening of the Pavilion marks the first milestone in realizing City of Hope’s vision for a patient-friendly, environmentally conscious, technologically advanced campus. Moving staff out of several existing buildings into the Pavilion will facilitate the next phase, which is demolition of structures that enable construction of the new Duarte Outpatient Center (DOC), an eight-story, 350,000-square-foot facility that will double the number of exam rooms and infusion capacity.
The DOC will house the latest, most advanced equipment, specialty clinics, new radiation oncology and laboratory services, and dedicated clinical trial infusion and monitoring. It will create enclosed walkways and bridges between buildings to provide a very safe and more comfortable experience for patient transport, especially for immuno-compromised patients. The DOC is planned to be completed in 2024.
In addition, a new 10,000-square-foot Outpatient Imaging Center slated for completion in September 2020 will nearly double imaging technologies and capacity, including new MRI, CT and PET scanners. It will house a PET/MRI machine, a hybrid that produces the most highly detailed images of the body.
Construction is well underway on the new Hope Village, targeted to open in 2021, a five-story, 147-room hospitality and wellness building for patients recuperating or those requiring extended treatment. This will allow patients who need easy access to City of Hope outpatient facilities to stay nearby and receive care in a comfortable, private, home-like setting.
Supporting the expansion plan is a new parking structure consisting of approximately 1,000 spaces for patients and visitors.
In addition to the new, leading-edge facilities, the renovated campus will have a strong focus on sustainability and environmental friendliness, and will maintain the features of landscaped walkways and green spaces that have long characterized City of Hope, said Jeff Walker, M.B.A., chief operations officer. “One of the guiding principles of the expansion is that the design of our new buildings and open spaces will contribute to the healing of patients by creating strong relationships with nature.”
“We are incredibly excited to celebrate the opening of the Pavilion,” said Walker. “This marks the beginning of an exciting transformation of the Duarte campus that will allow us to help more patients and their loved ones who turn to us at a time of great need for our unique care and capabilities.”
For more information about City of Hope, go to CityofHope.org.
