AURORA, Colo. - The University of Colorado Hospital (UCH) has just opened a large expansion to the Anschutz Cancer Pavilion (ACP), home of the University of Colorado Cancer Center. Patients will immediately experience better reception and waiting areas, more clinical rooms and additional treatment areas.
With the expansion, the hospital can now treat 11,500 cancer patients each year – a 60 percent increase. The addition also provides a new radiation therapy vault, 18 new chemotherapy infusion bays and 13 new exam rooms.
“The new clinical space makes this by far the most comprehensive and beautiful cancer center in the region,” said University of Colorado Hospital President and CEO John Harney.
The addition to the Anschutz Cancer Pavilion (ACP) adds 40,000 square feet of new space with a five-story addition on the north side of the building, bringing the ACP to a total of 148,000 square feet. Radiation therapy, urologic oncology, bone marrow transplant, GI/Phase 1 cancer program and surgical oncology will all gain space along with the infusion center.
“We’ve seen tremendous growth, and we really had no choice but to have this major expansion,” said University of Colorado Health CEO Bruce Schroffel. “This gives us the capacity for another 12,000 patients.”
The University of Colorado Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute (NCI) designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Colorado, and it is the largest and busiest cancer center in the Rocky Mountain Region, treating one in eight Colorado cancer patients. Investigators at the CU Cancer Center are at the forefront of cancer research, using the most innovative clinical trials, techniques and therapeutics to treat tens of thousands of patients each year. The Cancer Center saw almost 150,000 outpatient visits in 2010 and put $130 million in cancer research funding to work.
“It’s an extremely proud moment for me,” said Dan Theodorescu, MD, director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center. Theodorescu says the expansion is more than just physical space because it will allow the Cancer Center to continue recruiting world class physicians and carrying out the most innovative research in cancer treatment.
The Anschutz Cancer Pavilion expansion was built at a cost of $20 million, and about half the funding came from private donations. CoBiz Chairman and CEO Steve Bangert led the fundraising for this project with the University of Colorado Hospital Foundation.