Rendering courtesy of Sarasota Memorial Hospital, main campus, 1700 South Tamiami Trl., Sarasota.

The Sarasota Memorial Hospital will celebrate another construction milestone in the hospital’s new Cancer Institute tower, breaking ground today at 10am. Due to space constraints and parking, it will not be open to the public, but the entire event will be live-streamed on Youtube, with live updates on Facebook as well, for anyone who wants to tune in. 

In January, SMH unveiled the first phase of the Cancer Institute evolvement on the University Parkway campus, and is now beginning construction of a new radiation oncology center there. That outpatient center, slated to open in 2020, will offer the most advanced radiation therapy in the community. The second phase is this oncology and surgical tower on the main campus. When completed in 2021, it expects to be part of an expanding center designed to bring together the industry’s best doctors, the latest health care research, the most advanced treatments and a lifetime of support and follow-up care for cancer patients.

“We’ve been working on the development and design of this tower for the past two years,” says Kim Savage of Sarasota Memorial Hospital. “The latest rendering and video animation tour will show the eight-story tower for cancer patients being hospitalized, or those coming in for treatment and testing.” Within the grandiose scale of the building, there will be nine new operating rooms, including robotic surgery suites, offering the latest tools in tech for treating and removing cancerous tumors, as well as 56 private suites dedicated for hospitalized cancer patients, and an array of navigation, counseling and support services. The tower will have its own entrance and reception area, but connect to the main hospital on multiple levels, ensuring critical 24/7-access to SMH’s comprehensive range of diagnostic, medical and emergency care services.

Beyond the build and access to facilities, SMH was sure to include the importance of aesthetic touches in the design by involving the whole community including specialists, neighbors and a patient advisory group, many of whom are cancer survivors. Many patients offered their advice for the tower's interior by sharing heartfelt stories and personal experiences. Through this invaluable intel, SMH plans to incorporate recommendations such as soft, soothing wall colors, artwork, lots of natural lighting, personal bedside lamps and small gift bags with comfort items for patients and their visitors. “The advisory groups also have given clinically-oriented recommendations to make the entire process of treatment easier, seamless and coordinated—to create the most healing and hopeful environment for our patients,” says Savage. “Many noted the importance of everyone on staff being knowledgeable of each patient's day-to-day so everyone’s on the same page and focused on that individual's treatment plan.”

SMH is investing $220 million in the first two phases of the Cancer Institute and is in preliminary planning for a possible third phase—a pavilion to house a full array of before/after outpatient care and services for prevention and research. “As our population here gets older, we need to complement the care for cancer patients and survivors with optimal services,” Savage says. “And we don’t want people to feel like they have to leave the community to receive advanced, comprehensive healthcare.”

Rendering courtesy of Sarasota Memorial Hospital, main campus, 1700 South Tamiami Trl., Sarasota.

Watch the SMH live-stream event here.