Construction for the new Arizona Cancer Center Clinic is on schedule for completion for later this year.
The clinic, located at the former site of Tucson General Hospital, is being built by the University Medical Center at the UMC North Medical Park at 1515 N. Campbell Ave.
The construction, which formally began in late August after the demolition of the old hospital, is expected to be completed sometime in mid-October, said Ken Davis, senior superintendent for DPR Construction, Inc., the firm building the new center.
The new building will be a 5,550-square-foot addition to the current facilities of the already 108,000-square-foot Arizona Cancer Center, said Donna Breckenridge, communication director for the Arizona Cancer Center.
“”What we’re hoping when the construction is complete is to offer a one-stop shopping for cancer treatment,”” Breckenridge said.
The new clinic itself will primarily house treatment space for patients, freeing up current treatment space for lab space and administrative and physician offices. The 60 current research labs are expected to increase in number once the clinic opens, Breckenridge said.
The total project budget is estimated at $25 million and was funded entirely by the UMC through a combination of capital and bond funds, said Steve Brigham, UMC director of capital planning and projects.
The new center will differ from its previous hospital incarnation because the clinic will be a treatment-only facility in which patients will not stay overnight, Brigham said.
Brigham is confident the center will open its doors in October.
The Arizona Cancer Center is the first and largest comprehensive cancer center in the state. The center aims to meet the National Cancer Institute’s focus of treatment, care, research and prevention, Breckenridge said.
