New UMC facility to conduct research, offer treatment

Phoenix-area residents will soon have access to services offered by the UA's Arizona Cancer Center at a new branch office in Scottsdale.

The center is teaming up with Scottsdale Healthcare to build a new facility at their Shea campus in Scottsdale, said Arizona Cancer Center spokeswoman Laurie Young.

The branch office will offer a variety of services, including research, education and complicated procedures such as bone marrow transplants, she said.

Officials decided to expand to Scottsdale because nearly half of the 2,000 new patients that doctors at the center treat every year come from the Phoenix area, Young said.

"It brings the services...closer to home," Young said. "Cancer patients travel long distances to get the treatment they need."

The National Cancer Institute designates the University of Arizona's as the only "comprehensive cancer center" in the southwest, working on "all aspects of cancer research" like prevention, education, outreach, treatment and drug experimentation, she said.

Services will be entirely on an outpatient basis. People requiring a hospital stay will still be treated at Scottsdale Healthcare, she said.

The Scottsdale facility will include two structures. A 50,000 square-foot clinical building will provide radiation treatment, chemotherapy and outpatient services, while a 34,000 square-foot research facility will house labs, research staff and administration, said Scottsdale Healthcare spokesman Keith Jones.

Construction will cost Scottsdale Healthcare $14 million, he said.

Groundbreaking ceremonies will occur no later than December of this year and the buildings will open about one year later, he said. Until then, the Arizona Cancer Center will use its existing offices in Scottsdale.