The Duke University Health System has announced it's moving forward with the construction of a state-of-the-art Cancer Center and the new Duke Medicine Pavilion, a major expansion of surgery and critical care services at Duke University Hospital.
Victor J. Dzau, MD, chancellor for health affairs and CEO of DUHS, said the project will increase Duke's ability to expand its widely recognized primary, specialty and sub-specialty care services while also strengthening its renowned teaching, training and research programs.
"The primary factor in our decision to move forward with these projects is our sense of responsibility and conviction to ensure that we meet the current and projected demands for the high quality healthcare services that patients have come to expect from Duke," said Dzau.
He said the project will create as many as 1,500 jobs during construction and an estimated 1,000 permanent jobs upon completion.
The two facilities will add approximately 850,000 square feet to the Duke medical campus. The Cancer Center is expected to be completed and ready for occupancy in 2012, while the Duke Medicine Pavilion is expected to begin receiving patients in 2013.
The project is currently estimated to cost more than $700 million.
The new Cancer Center will be comprised of 140 examination rooms, 75 infusion stations, a pharmacy and an outdoor garden terrace where chemotherapy patients can go while receiving their infusions.
"Cancer care and research are core areas of excellence within Duke Medicine and many of our faculty have recognized national, and international, reputations for innovation in this field," said William J. Fulkerson, Jr., MD, senior vice president for clinical affairs for DUHS.
The Cancer Center will also include dedicated private reflection spaces, a patient boutique that will provide specialty products and services, a café and a patient resource center.
The Duke Medicine Pavilion at Duke University Hospital will be an eight-story building of approximately 580,000 square feet and will include 16 operating suites, 96 critical care beds and 64 intermediate care beds. The operating suites will feature the latest in surgical technologies as well as intraoperative magnetic resonance and computed tomography (CT) imaging capabilities designed to enable greater real-time precision and safety in complex procedures.
"Projections for large increases in cancer cases in North Carolina over the next several years suggest that our plan will just meet the anticipated demand," said Dzau.
"I believe the combined clinical and research advancements at Duke and (the University of North Carolina), as well as the enhanced collaboration between the institutions, have the potential to turn the Research Triangle into one of the country's epicenters for excellence and advancements in cancer care," he added.
This major expansion project follows on several recent significant capital projects at Duke Medicine, including renovations at Duke Raleigh and Durham Regional hospitals and the opening of several new clinics.