UKRAINIAN VILLAGE — A new cancer care center will open in the Ukrainian Village in July 2016.
Presence Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center is opening a new center at the south east corner of the Saint Mary's campus at Thomas and Leavitt streets. The center will offer all cancer treatments including medical oncology, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and patient support services.
Building on the existing structure, construction for the new facility is slated to begin late October or early November, said Victor Senese, project executive of Bear Construction, during the community presentation given Oct. 15 at the Nazareth Family Center, 1127 N. Oakley.
In the nearby communities that the medical center already serves, including West Town, Wicker Park, Logan Square and Humboldt Park, different forms of cancer such as breast, lung and colon cancer are projected to increase by 5–10 percent over the next ten years, said Stonish Pierce, the medical center's regional chief ambulatory and ancillary officer.
Without its West Town services, patients would have to travel to academic medical centers in Chicago or head out as far west as River Forest for care, he added.
“We actually studied this neighborhood pretty thoroughly, and if you look over the next 10 years, cancer is projected to increase 18 percent in this neighborhood,” Pierce said. "Cancer is one of the top two causes of morbidity and mortality in each one of those areas."
At the presentation, residents expressed concern regarding parking, noise and other disturbances during construction. Senese said vibration monitors would be placed in the building around the site to monitor vibrations coming from the site, workers will park in a nearby church and assured residents that workers would not cause unnecessary disturbances.
The center will feature new medical equipment, improved infusion rooms, a patient resource center, visitor amenities including internet service and chairs with built-in Android devices.
"We collaborate a lot with American Cancer Society ... and a lot of outside support groups, so we have community programs there and give patients a change to reconnect with other patients," Pierce said, referring to the patient resource center. "It's going to be a great environment for the patients."
The center’s new Linear Accelerator will be used to treat all cancer types, and the PET CT will be used to help prepare the patient before receiving radiation therapy, said Michael Czyrka, associate principal and SVP of architecture firm HKS.
"Treatments could take a couple hours or six hours depending on the type of drug that's being administered,” Czyrka said. "All the drugs will be contained on site, and the pharmacy is onsite for that, too. It's all a single, cohesive operation, which would be best for the patients."
A groundbreaking ceremony for the center will be held at the site Nov. 5 at 10 a.m.
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