2/15/04
Cancer Institute

The design for the new SIU Cancer Institute at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield offers a comforting atmosphere for both patients and the medical staff.

The new SIU Cancer Institute is being designed to serve as a center of care and hope for patients from around the state. The design provides a welcoming, secure and uplifting feeling for patients coming to the institute says Dr. Kevin Dorsey, dean of the SIU medical school.

SOUND BITE: “The building itself will serve our mission to take care of patients with cancer, to teach both students and residents, other physicians and the public about cancer, and to conduct research studies of both the bench, the clinical and what we call translational research . . .”

The new three-story 60,000 square-foot building is located at the corner of Rutledge and Carpenter, which is just a few blocks north of Springfield’s downtown. It will consolidate the School’s multidisciplinary cancer clinics now located in several hospital buildings as well as research and outreach service programs. Mike Czyrka (Zur-kah) of BSA Life Structures explains the large expanse of glass throughout the brick building.

SOUND BITE: “. . . the idea was to bring in as much natural light as we could into this building so that it’s helping the caregivers, the researchers, the patients with relating to the outside with relating to the outside . . . as well as creating a healing environment.”

Construction on the new cancer institute is expected to begin in fall of 2005 with completion in 2007.