Stanford, CA (March 1, 2004) — Stanford Hospital & Clinics opened the doors of its new state-of-the-art, 165,000-square-foot cancer center to patients today. Stanford’s outpatient cancer programs are now combined in one location that features advanced technology as well as patient amenities such as a café, boutique and patient concierge service. The consolidation of services and programs in one facility fosters closer collaboration among physicians and medical staff, giving patients improved access to various nationally-recognized cancer specialists.
“This building is dedicated to healing and hope,” says Martha H. Marsh, President and CEO of Stanford Hospital & Clinics. “It is dedicated to our courageous patients facing cancer. We hope our new Cancer Center will support many new diagnostic and treatment options that will improve the health and quality of life for our patients. We also hope the amenities provided by our generous donors — art, music, gardens, a health library and concierge services — will support the spirits of patients battling cancer and those who care for them.”
The building’s first floor includes Stanford’s cancer clinics, radiology/mammography and the laboratory. The mammography suite features digital mammography, a breakthrough technology in which each unit is paired with computer-aided detection programs that look for little cancers in dense breast tissue. The digital imaging also allows physicians to store images in an electronic format. Multiple specialists can simultaneously view the Stanford Cancer Center images through a secure network while at different locations on the Stanford Medical Center campus. Patients also can access a dedicated breast ultrasound unit and receive their ultrasound at the same appointment as their mammogram, saving the patient’s time. In May, a stereotactic breast biopsy device — a minimally invasive method of obtaining tissue samples, which involves guiding a hollow needle into a lump with the help of images from a mammogram — will move from the hospital to the cancer center.
In the cancer clinics area, multidisciplinary teams of specialists — called tumor boards — will meet weekly to review patients’ cases from every perspective to deliver comprehensive treatment plan recommendations to patients. A retail pharmacy will open on the first floor this spring, giving patients easier access to their prescriptions. Patient amenities include a branch of the Stanford Health Library, a cyber café and deli, and the patient concierge.
The ground floor houses radiation oncology, with a PET/CT scan — the only one in Northern California — a powerful new diagnostic imaging technology that combines the strengths of two well-established imaging methods in one session to more accurately diagnose and locate cancers while increasing patient comfort. The Stanford Cancer Center will house the most number of linear accelerators — machines that create high-energy radiation to treat cancer, using electricity to form a stream of fast-moving subatomic particles — in one location anywhere in the Bay Area. The ground floor waiting area also opens up to a garden with a sculpture fountain.
The second floor has an expansive light-filled infusion area where patients can enjoy comfortable recliners and personal televisions with headsets while receiving their chemotherapy. Also on the second floor are a meditation room and a state-of-the-art conference center where Stanford will host medical education programs and international Stanford Cancer Center teleconferences. A boutique on the second floor, scheduled to open this summer, will offer patients and loved ones everything from wellness and gift items to wigs and fittings for prosthetics.
While the majority of patients seeking care at the Stanford Cancer Center are from the local area, many patients from all over the country and the world come here to access the latest treatments and expertise of Stanford’s clinical teams. Princeton University professor Luh Nelson came to Stanford when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“I took six months off and decided to go to Stanford for my care,” says Nelson. “So many things have made a difference, especially the integrative care, which has included yoga and meditation. Also, the fact that Stanford is truly collaborative in their approach has given me confidence in the care I’ve received.”
Stanford University Medical Center — comprising Stanford Hospital & Clinics, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and the Stanford University School of Medicine — has a history of leadership in international and national programs in basic, translational and clinical cancer research. The cancer program at Stanford offers programs in bone marrow transplantation, hematology, medical oncology, radiation oncology, otolaryngology and gynecologic, neurosciences, surgical, gastrointestinal and genitourinary oncology.