Image courtesy of Washington University School of Medicine
Siteman Cancer Center, the combined cancer-related programs of Washington University in St. Louis and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, received approval last week to move forward with plans for a new center in South County.
After several months of planning, construction is slated to begin in spring of 2011, with the opening 18 months to two years later.
The 40,000 square foot, single-story building will be similar in size and scope to the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital. It will service patients from the I-55 corridor and southern Illinois. According to Jeannette St. Aubin, executive director of physician practice development at Washington University School of Medicine, other Siteman Centers see around 4,000 patients who travel from South County for treatment. Based on this information and the rate of cancer incidence, “South County was a top priority for us.”
Planning for the new facility is not yet underway, but St. Aubin says that the new center will provide patients with the same access to Siteman clinical trials. Washington University and Barnes-Jewish are adding additional physicians to prepare for the new center. About 70 percent of the new building will be Washington University staff and offices, including chemotherapy, and the other 30 percent will be radiation oncology and lab services.
St. Aubin says that the new center will offer patients top-quality services, including chemotherapy, medical oncology, and radiation oncology, closer to their homes.
Although the service will be similar to other Siteman Centers, the South County center is unique because it is the first building Siteman is able to design themselves. Siteman will work with an architect to design the new building from scratch to be patient-friendly. “A feeling of ease and comfort [for the patients] will be critical,” St. Aubin says.
The Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee approved the Certificate of Need on November 8, despite resistance from neighboring St. Anthony’s Medical Center.
St. Anthony’s raised concerns about competition, because the two cancer centers will draw from the same pool of patients. St. Aubin believes that there is a need for both centers due to the growth rate of cancer incidence, which is currently two percent a year.
Additionally, cancer referrals will provide patients for both facilities. Patients are referred to cancer centers by their primary care physicians and, St. Aubin says, those referral relationships are already well-established in the community.
Although some movement of patients may occur, St. Aubin explains that for the most part, South County will benefit from “an overall enhanced level of service between the two institutions.”
