Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital have signed a contract to purchase property, and filed a Certificate of Need Letter of Intent, to build a new Siteman Cancer Center in south St. Louis County, serving the I-55 corridor and southern Illinois.
Upon completing obligations related to the sale, zoning and Certificate of Need application, and final approval of Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital boards, construction is estimated to begin in spring 2011, with an opening anticipated in about two years.
The 16.28-acre site is immediately south and east of the intersection of I-55 and Butler Hill Road, with access from Butler Hill Road. The site is generally construction-ready, having been cleared for construction of an apartment complex that went into foreclosure following the market downturn.
Currently, more than 4,500 cancer patients in the area near the new location come to Siteman Cancer Center, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University for evaluation and treatment. This includes approximately 850 newly diagnosed cancer patients yearly.
The new outpatient center will provide the latest advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment to south county and southern Illinois patients, in a convenient, comfortable setting closer to their homes. Barnes-Jewish Hospital will place a linear accelerator in the facility for state-of-the-art radiation therapy. Washington University will operate a chemotherapy infusion center.
Washington University medical oncologists and radiation oncologists will treat patients at the new location, and surgical oncologists will provide consults there. Medical staff of the new facility will be Washington University faculty physicians.
A 40,000-square-foot facility is planned, and Washington University programs will occupy about 70 percent of the space. The one-story, outpatient center will operate during daytime hours Monday through Friday.
Siteman Cancer Center, through Washington University, has one of the largest cancer research programs in the nation, including access to hundreds of clinical trials that greatly expand the options available to patients. Clinical trials also will be available at the South County location.
Siteman Cancer Center, which encompasses the combined cancer-related programs of Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, is the only cancer center within 250 miles of St. Louis designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the federal National Cancer Institute.
Building the $17-million facility will generate nearly 300 construction jobs. Once open, the facility will create about 50 new, permanent positions with Washington University’s departments of medicine and radiation oncology, or with Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Siteman Cancer Center’s other locations are at Washington University Medical Center on South Kingshighway, at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital, and at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital.