City of Hope has cut the ribbon on a 190,000-square-foot academic cancer treatment and research center in Orange County, California—a major milestone toward the $1 billion-plus “comprehensive” cancer campus the organization has promised for the area.
Called the City of Hope Orange County Lennar Foundation Cancer Center, the outpatient facility aims to provide multidisciplinary cancer care ranging from prevention to surgery to survivorship within a single site, the organization said in a Wednesday release announcing its opening.
Additionally, the new facility will also support several hundred cancer-focused clinical trials annually, advancing cancer treatment while giving Orange County patients access to experimental cancer therapies.
“City of Hope’s vision is to make leading-edge research, treatment and care accessible to more patients, families and communities across the country,” City of Hope President and CEO Robert Stone said in the announcement. “Our new Orange County campus does just that, embedding an academic cancer center in the heart of a community to deliver cancer breakthroughs and innovation for generations of patients in need of our advanced care.”
The new outpatient center is outfitted with 67 exam and treatment rooms, 15 consultation rooms, an infusion center with 43 infusion bays and 10 private infusion treatment rooms, centralized lab services and pharmacies. It also houses the Hope Boutique, a full-service salon and shopping area staffed by cosmetologists trained to work with oncology patients.
City of Hope had purchased the 11-acre lot in 2018 and shortly after was targeting a mid-2021 opening for the facility. The organization received a $50 million gift from the Lennar Foundation announced in March of last year, with City of Hope saying at the time that the late-stage funds could help support future expansions.
The treatment and research organization has also committed to building an inpatient specialty cancer hospital that will be located adjacent to the outpatient facility. The organization plans to open the hospital in 2025.
The facility greatly bolsters City of Hope’s existing Orange County cancer care network of four regional clinics, which the organization said now represents its largest network dedicated exclusively to cancer care and cures.
City of Hope said it decided to ramp up its presence to meet local demand in the heavily populated, demographically older county. Almost 1 in 5 Orange County residents with cancer leave the area for advanced care, the organization said, while the county’s cancer incidence rate is projected to increase by 18% over the next 10 years.
“Four years ago, we pledged to bring the most advanced cancer care to Orange County, home to 3.2 million people,” Annette Walker, president of City of Hope Orange County, said in a statement. “As we open our cancer center’s doors, our highly committed teams join the community in celebrating the delivery of tomorrow’s lifesaving treatments to those who need them today. Hope is truly here in Orange County.”
Primarily centered around Southern California, City of Hope greatly ramped up its operations with its acquisition of Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Closed in February, the deal added oncology hospitals and outpatient care centers in new regions and reportedly came with a $390 million price tag.