Marlena Murphy’s cancer treatments aren’t always smooth or comfortable. In some ways, they rarely made sense for Murphy, who was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in 2018 and who has been undergoing treatment ever since. Why does she go to one building for chemotherapy infusions but another one for radiation? Why isn’t there convenient parking near the entrance for daily, 15-minute-long radiation sessions? Why is the pharmacy in a gift shop?
These are the kinds of complaints and frustrations from dozens of former and current patients who helped shape the design of a massive Winship Cancer Institute at Emory Midtown opening next week. The building not only streamlines care but also offers more privacy for patients and panoramic views of the Atlanta skyline aimed at making visits faster, easier, and less stressful.
Opening to patients on Tuesday, May 9, Winship at Emory Midtown brings together outpatient and inpatient cancer care together on nearby floors organized by types of cancer, such as lung cancer, breast cancer, and melanoma.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
The new, 17-story facility is on Peachtree Street at the corner of Linden Avenue on the Emory University Hospital Midtown grounds near the Bank of America Building. The $440 million facility was partially funded by a $200 million gift from the Robert Woodruff Foundation. Winship broke ground on the building in November 2019.
The center will house 80 inpatient beds and six operating rooms for both inpatient and outpatient procedures. Winship is in the process of hiring 600 full-time employees, plus physicians, to staff the facility.
In many ways, the center looks more like a hotel with ample space and eye-catching art than a hospital.
“It doesn’t feel like a hospital,” said Murphy, 45, of Union City. She recently toured the facility and participated in a program to give feedback on the design. She was among about 160 people including patients, families, doctors, and nurses whose advice helped shape the center. “It feels like you are walking into a very beautiful building and you can tell that a lot of effort was put into what the building would look like and the energy you would feel when you enter the building.”
Credit: cust
Credit: cust
Dr. Suresh Ramalingam, executive director of Winship, called the facility “transformational” by bringing together the components of cancer care including surgery, radiation therapy, infusion therapy, radiology, and supportive care services all in one building. Many of the services will be provided in a patient’s private suite. The center will also house clinical trials, support groups, and wellness programs such as acupuncture.
“This facility has been constructed with patient-centeredness as the main focus. All the care revolving around the patients, addressing their various needs as they navigate the difficult journey with cancer,” he said.
Special features of the facility include having inpatient rooms situated at an angle to allow nurses to monitor patients but also give the patients privacy, and allowing supplies to be stocked from a sliding cabinet outside the patient’s room to avoid disturbing the patient.
With the new building, the number of Winship Cancer Institute Emory Healthcare locations will remain the same — eight. But the facility will replace the existing one at Emory Midtown Hospital. Emory Hospital officials are discussing how to use this newly vacated space.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University has been at the forefront of cancer research and discovery and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center (NCI) in Georgia.
In 2015, former President Jimmy Carter was given a diagnosis of metastatic melanoma: skin cancer that had spread to his liver and brain. He later said he thought he had just weeks to live. But Carter was successfully treated at Winship with an immuno-therapeutic drug, which was new at that time. One of Carter’s physicians at Winship, Dr. David Lawson, happened to be one of several researchers at sites around the country who were studying the effect of this cutting-edge immunotherapy — drugs that stimulate a person’s immune system to fight cancer cells.
For Carter, signs of his cancer were gone by the end of 2015 and he became the face of a dramatic recovery. Carter, now 98, recently entered hospice care at his home. He has not provided details of his medical condition or said whether his cancer has returned.
Remarkable medical advances in cancer treatment in recent years have paved the way for dramatic improvements in life expectancy and quality of life.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
The cancer death rate in the United States fell 2.2% from 2016 to 2017 — the largest single-year decline in cancer mortality ever reported, according to the American Cancer Society. The cancer death rate continued to decline from 2019 to 2020 by 1.5%. Since 1991 the death rate has dropped 33%, which translates to approximately 3.8 million fewer cancer deaths than would have occurred if the mortality rate had remained constant.
Still, in Georgia this year, an estimated 18,510 people will die from cancer, and there will be 61,170 new diagnoses, according to the American Cancer Society.
Emory estimates 28% of newly diagnosed cancer patients in Georgia will be treated at one of the Winship Cancer Institute locations.
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