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Building Hope Click here to read the press release It’s taken years of hard work and tireless dedication, but hope has a new home in New Mexico. On August 31, 2009, after nearly a decade of planning and construction, the UNM Cancer Center, the official Cancer Center of New Mexico and the state’s only National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center, opened the first phase of its new, state-of-the-art UNM Cancer Treatment and Clinical Research Facility. This $90 million, 206,000 square foot facility provides fully integrated, world-class comprehensive cancer diagnosis and treatment, ushering in a new era of hope for all New Mexicans facing cancer. This facility serves as the hub in UNM’s Statewide Cancer Care Network, with links to outreach clinics and programs in Las Cruces, Santa Fe and Farmington. The need for a new facility had never been clearer. Last year, the UNM Cancer Center saw more than 7,600 newly diagnosed cancer patients in more than 90,000 patient visits, which represents half the adults and virtually all children diagnosed with cancer in the state. The original clinic, which was built in 1973, was designed for fewer than 100 daily visits. By the time the UNM Cancer Center moved to the new facility, it was handling nearly 400 patient visits every day! Until the opening of this new facility, more than 600 physicians, nurses and staff worked in increasingly tight quarters to keep up with a rapidly growing patient population. The paramount concern of Cheryl Willman, MD, Director and CEO of the UNM Cancer Center, was not only designing the new space to allow us to bring the most up-to-date technologies to New Mexico for cancer diagnosis and treatment, but most importantly, the comfort and well being of the patients and their families who use the new building. “Cancer patients and their families have very specific needs, and not all of them are medical,” she says. “Our mission is to make sure that we support and treat the whole person and not just their cancer, and that we consider our patients and their families’ physical, emotional and spiritual needs. We want to create a gracious environment of hope, comfort and safety.” Dr. Willman’s vision of the ideal cancer center was one where all these needs could be met successfully, where patients and their families could feel at ease while receiving the most advanced cancer care available. The resulting design of our state-of-the-art facility fully reflects this vision. Because the Center has been focused on caring for the whole patient, this new facility also features healing gardens, private alcoves, a reflective pool and a meditation chapel to provide an environment of hope and healing. Patient and Family Services Programs and an Integrative Cancer Medicine Center provide full patient supportive care services. The design of the new building was heavily influenced by New Mexico’s diverse cultures. Because a strong connection to the Earth is central to Native American beliefs, wood, stone and other natural elements are visible throughout the facility. New Mexican plants believed to have healing properties inspired the color schemes, and a roof-to-ground light chimney floods each floor with sunlight. The beautiful chemotherapy infusion suite on the top floor, operated by UNM Hospital, offers patients a stunning view of the Sandia Mountains during their treatment, which can be done indoors or out in the fresh air of the rooftop garden. “Our new state-of-the-art facility is a welcoming and gracious healing space where the whole patient, not just their cancer, can be attended to,” Willman said. “We’re incredibly anxious to provide this world-class facility to all New Mexicans, and we are thrilled to be opening our doors.” The formal dedication of the new facility is planned for June 11-12, 2010 and will feature some of New Mexico’s most famous musicians, artists, and poets who will participate in a weekend of “Healing Through Arts and Medicine.”
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