This month, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute opens the doors of its new 1.1 million-square foot structure, a truly transformational facility focused on the goal of creating a cancer-free world.
The 21-story building is the culmination of more than a decade of planning, and it stands as a declaration of our enduring commitment to the health and well-being of the people of Ohio, the United States, and around the world. When I walk through the doors, my pulse quickens. I am filled with a sense of hope.
The new James was designed to inspire patients and their loved ones, and to inspire the people who devote their careers to helping people with cancer. We are thrilled to share this milestone with the entire cancer community, and we look forward to working with our colleagues globally to make forward strides in the fight against cancer.
There is no routine cancer, and the new James operationalizes this concept. Each inpatient unit of the hospital is devoted to a specific type of cancer. Clinicians, therapists, the nursing staff, and others are all sub-specialists with experience in the intricacies of that cancer type. Translational labs are located on the units, integrating the lines between discovery and treatment.
To leverage the insights that molecular diagnostics provides, the interplay between clinicians and lab researchers must be frequent. We designed the new James to help promote those valuable encounters.
Glass walls enable visitors, staff, and even patients themselves to observe our work. And our researchers get to see the patients who benefit from their discoveries. This is true bench-to-bedside translational research and an unmatched source of motivation for our physicians and researchers as we develop treatments unique to each patient's cancer.
Many health systems talk about "multidisciplinary care"-but coordinating multi-modality care in a single location for a patient is a logistical feat. We designed the new James to accommodate large groups of physicians and support services. Precision tumor boards meet to determine patient treatment and consider participation in one of the hundreds of cancer clinical trials available at the OSUCCC-James.
Twenty-first century cancer care is coming of age with the opening of the new James, and it represents the present and the future of our field. The new hospital is an inspiring place, and it says a lot about Ohio State's commitment to cancer. There is no routine cancer, and this is no routine cancer hospital.