Under one roof

Sanford Health combines all cancer services with Edith Sanford Breast Center

BY KAYLA PRASEK

When the Edith Sanford Breast Center opens on the Sioux Falls, S.D., campus of Sanford Health in 2016, it will bring all of Sanford’s cancer services to one central location. The new facility will be connected to the existing Sanford Cancer Center, and the new facility will make room for other cancer-related services as well.

The project consists of two parts — renovating 27,000 square feet of existing space in the cancer center and 58,000 square feet of new construction on the north and southeast sides of the cancer center, all of which is being done by Sioux Falls-based general contractor Henry Carlson Company. The $30 million project, designed by Sioux Fallsbased Architecture Incorporated, broke ground in July 2014 and will be completed in June 2016. It is expected to open to the public Aug. 1, 2016.

“We’re thrilled to have the chance to redesign our facilities so they’re more in line with the changes in health care,” says Sharon Hunt, vice president of cancer at Sanford Health. “The Edith building will be an integrated building that combines research, clinical care and surgery.”

Hunt says Sanford needed to expand its diagnostic and treatment spaces because “we wanted to make sure we have access for our patients, and not just breast cancer, but all cancer. We needed to be able to change the space so we could have research and service spaces, so we could embed these services and add them to our culture.”

The existing structure of the Sanford Sioux Falls campus “made it a little difficult on our patients because all the cancer services were in different areas of campus,” Hunt says. “Now, everything will be in the same building. We have all these services that aren’t visible, but in the new building, those services will be front and center so our patients can take advantage of them.”

Once the Edith building opens, mammography, a breast cancer risk assessment program, a high-risk breast clinic, a breast surgery clinic, genetic counseling, a boutique offering medical and retail support, a survivorship clinic, the Sanford BioBank and the DNA core will all be under one roof. A multi-disciplinary conference center and multi-disciplinary clinic will also be located at the facility. “In the multi-disciplinary clinic, the patient will go to an exam room, and all of their physicians will come to them,” Hunt says. “So in one trip, a surgeon, oncologist and a researcher for a clinical trial might all bring their services into the patient’s room, making it easier on the patient.”

The Edith building will also have an integrated lab and pharmacy focused on cancer to make access seamless for patients and a bistro dedicated to helping patients stay healthy as they fight cancer. The oncology department will increase from six to 10 physicians, and the infusion center will be expanded to include more private infusion rooms. The gynecological oncology department will also be moved into the center.

“We’ll be able to offer more innovative treatments, as the new building will have research areas in the treatment center,” Hunt says. “It will be easier for our patients to get into treatment trials, and those trials will become just another avenue for treatment. Right now, patients may be intimidated by a treatment trial, but in the new building those trials will be part of daily life in the center.”

The first part of construction included giving the existing cancer center a facelift so it blends into the architecture of the new facility. Once that was complete, work started on the new facility, which is being built with a precast concrete exterior placed on a steel structure. The new facility will also have more than 140 windows, to make it be a “comfortable, warm, friendly setting,” says Orlen Tschetter, vice president of facilities and planning at Sanford. The front of the building will be the grand entrance to Sanford’s cancer services and will take on the “Sanford look,” Tschetter says.

When it came to designing the Edith Sanford Breast Center, and combining the existing cancer center with the new facility, Hunt says the focus was on the patient experience. “We thought about what is changing in health care, and designed the building so it supports what every patient needs when they are fighting cancer. The integration of research into the building helps us bring research front and center so we can use it to help our patients and make it a part of daily care. We’re excited for the future with this building and what it means for the Sanford USD Medical Center.” PB

Kayla Prasek Staff writer

Prairie Business 701-780-1187, kprasek@prairiebizmag.com

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