Taken by DoubleWide
Also, the best news of the day....
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/...ies/092508dnmetbaylorcenter.17e7a68.html
Baylor plans cancer center in Dallas rivaling M.D. Anderson
07:25 AM CDT on Thursday, September 25, 2008
By JASON ROBERSON / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
Baylor Health Care System on Friday expects to announce plans for a $350 million, 450,000-square-foot cancer center, featuring a 120-bed cancer hospital and the largest outpatient cancer center in Texas.
The outpatient center will border Hall and Worth streets near Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas at 3500 Gaston Ave. It is scheduled to open in 2011, according to senior Baylor executives.
Construction of the cancer hospital will begin in 2010, with completion scheduled for 2013, the executives said.
"When completed in 2013, it will be our goal to be a nationally and internationally renowned cancer care destination," said Joel T. Allison, president of Baylor Health Care System.
The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston is currently the state's only dedicated cancer hospital. That facility is typically ranked among the nation's top cancer resources, along with the likes of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
Donna Bowers, vice president of oncology services at Baylor Health Care System, estimates it will take Dallas' cancer center 10 years before it reaches that level of worldwide renown.
Baylor Health Care is the third-largest hospital system in North Texas, based on the number of beds and market share. Texas Health Resources Inc. and HCA North Texas are larger, according to HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a Nashville, Tenn., market research company. Baylor has 2,082 beds at its 15 hospitals and is the fifth-largest employer in North Texas, with 16,500 workers.
The Baylor system had a combined net income of more than $280 million on net patient revenue of nearly $2 billion in its 2006 fiscal year, according to Billian's HealthData, an Atlanta market research firm.
In May 2005, Baylor's senior executives and oncologists began brainstorming about the possibility of a cancer center, said John B. McWhorter, president of Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas.
"We noticed individuals leaving North Texas, going to M.D. Anderson and the Mayo Clinic, seeking cures for various cancers," Mr. McWhorter said. "We wanted to be a destination center, but we needed to make some changes."
About that time, Mr. McWhorter also got new studies showing that the hospital system was improving in its detection of cancer, another point of encouragement.
The health system's 13-member board gave unanimous support to formal plans after Mr. McWhorter and his staff presented the data and the potential to keep cancer patients in Dallas.
Details about hiring plans, the estimated economic impact and how the center will be financed will be released Friday during a news conference that will include Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert.
About the new facility
Location: Hall and Worth Streets, south of Worth
Cost: $350 million
Size: 450,000 square feet
Scheduled opening: cancer center scheduled to open in 2011; cancer hospital scheduled to open in 2013
Number of hospital beds: 120
Services offered: full range of cancer-related services, including radiation, chemotherapy, pain management and complementary medicine such as massage therapy and support groups.
SOURCE: Baylor Health Care System
Prev
Linear Mode
