Emory University broke ground Tuesday on a $469 million facility that will stretch across more than three acres of Midtown Atlanta.
Winship at Midtown will be located at Linden Avenue and Peachtree Street, next to the Bank of America Plaza. Construction of the 17-story facility will allow Emory to consolidate all of its services for cancer patients at Emory University Hospital Midtown.
Now, patients sometimes have to go to multiple locations to see oncologists, undergo radiation, get blood drawn or pick up prescriptions.
Dr. Walter J. Curran Jr., executive director of the Winship Cancer Institute, said Emory is taking a fresh look at cancer care and ways to better integrate services.
Winship at Midtown plans call for 64 inpatient beds, 26 observation beds, six operating rooms and a radiation facility.
The project — partially funded by a $200 million grant from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation — is expected to be completed by the spring of 2023.
“The whole goal, and the Winship mission really, is to lessen the burden of cancer in Georgia by aligning our cancer research and education with our cancer care and prevention,” said Curran. “A building alone doesn’t do that, but it provides us an opportunity to do that more.” The concept has been coined “The Winship Way.”
All Winship Cancer Institute locations — at the main campus of Emory University, midtown, Emory Saint Joseph's and Emory Johns Creek Hospital — are emphasizing the streamlining of care.
Curran said physicians, nurses and hospital administrators, as well as patients and their family members, were included in the process of planning and designing the new facility.
Curran said Emory officials listened to suggestions that the building have as much natural light as possible, large enough patient rooms to comfortably accommodate more than one family member, and nurses’ stations that are closer to patients.
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Daniel Owens, CEO of Emory University Hospital Midtown Hospital, added they also received requests for more respite spaces and decided to add a rooftop garden area.
Christopher Kane, a consultant with Progressive Healthcare, said Emory is well known for cutting-edge cancer research, comprehensive care and a wide range of specialists. But all health-care systems, including Emory, must meet patients’ demands for not only top-notch medical care but streamlined care.
“We know cancer care is not like going through a Starbucks drive through,” said Kane. “But this idea of one stop resonates with consumers.”
Kane said other health-care systems, including Northside Hospital and WellStar, are also focused more on integrated care. But, he said, Emory not only competes with local institutions, but with other nationally regarded research institutions.
The number of new cancer patients treated at Winship has steadily risen over recent years and is expected to reach 17,000 this year, up from about 5,000 in 2009.
“The competitive stakes in health care have been raised and health-care systems like Emory need to keep up with intensifying competition,” said Kane.
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