Cancer center to be ready by 2007

The 6-acre overgrown site at the northwest corner of Interstate 75 and Colonial Boulevard in Fort Myers doesn’t look like much.

Just give Lee Memorial Health System 17 months.

By late 2007, the uneven land tucked behind a Bob Evans and a Steak ¤’n Shake will be home to a $20 million to $25 million comprehensive cancer care center, said Sharon McDonald, vice president of Lee Cancer Care.

Officials from Lee Memorial and local physicians turned the first shovels of dirt Thursday morning on the Lee Cancer Care Center, a 62,000-square-foot, four-story building that will house all of the services that have been offered by the hospital system for the past 25 years and more in one building.

There will be educational services, diagnoses, treatments and support in one location. Patients will find everything from state-of-the art equipment to a salon and a healing garden, said McDonald.

The project, which will be the only comprehensive cancer center between Miami and Tampa, had to be a joint effort from the hospital system and local physicians to become a reality, she said. It has taken eight years, but it was worth it, she said.

“I’m thrilled to finally be on this piece of dirt and making it into something special,” she said.

The Cancer Care Center will be home to 21st Century Oncology, Florida Gynecologic Oncology and Florida Cancer Specialists when it opens. Lee Memorial hopes to attract more local specialists and draw some physicians from outside the area, too, she said.

Lee Memorial sees just fewer than 4,000 patients at all of the health system’s facilities, and the numbers will continue to grow, she said. Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center sees about 2,000 cancer patients per year, she said.

“It is a disease of aging. As people get older, we’ll see more of the disease,” she said. “We’re hoping this will become a destination point for our people.”

Lee Memorial also hopes to partner with the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer and Research Institute in Tampa for clinical drug trials, said Dr. Jimmy Orr, the medical director of Lee Cancer Care and Florida Gynecologic Oncology.

More than 1.4 million people are diagnosed with cancer each year, said Orr. There is a new diagnosis every 20 seconds, and 40 percent of men and women will be affected during their lifetimes, he said.

The past three years have seen a decrease in the mortality rate of cancer patients, he said. Lee Cancer Care wants to make those numbers even lower, he said.

“Men, women and children deserve to have comprehensive cancer care under one roof,” he said.

The Lee Cancer Care Center will be part of a medical village, said Lee Memorial CEO Jim Nathan. A 70,000-square-foot facility that will be constructed east of the cancer center will house diagnostic and surgery centers, 10 primary care physicians from the hospital’s network and also have space for lease for private physician offices.

The hospital system partnered last year with Marshall Erdman & Associates, a Wisconsin-based firm that specializes in the design and construction of outpatient medical facilities. Marshall Erdman purchased the 12.33 acres for the medical village for $7.78 million in September.

Lee Memorial will not own either the cancer center building or the land on which it sits. The hospital system will pay Marshall Erdman about $600,000 annually on its 20-year leases for both.

It wasn’t very long ago that Lee Memorial representatives stood in a cucumber and potato field with big dreams, Nathan said during the groundbreaking. Now, that field is home to HealthPark Medical Center, he said.

Cancer is a stark reality for many people, and Lee Memorial wants the Cancer Care Center to become a refuge, he said.

“Not too many years ago, the word (cancer) meant. death. Now, the word means hope,” he said.

Lee Cancer Care Center Services

1st floor: Magic Choices Boutique, Meditation Atrium, Radiology Oncology Services, Neuro Oncology Services, Library, Deli

2nd floor: Infusion Center, Cancer Data Center, Palliative Care Clinic, Laboratory, Genetics Counseling, Clinical Research, Support Services, Voice Clinic, Pharmacy

3rd floor: Medical Offices

4th floor: Medical Office and Education Center for Professional, Community Outreach Programs