Cancer treatment comes with enough challenges and hardships.
Traveling across Indianapolis, or even further, to get the necessary care is the last thing people need. Leaders at one local health care network want to ensure their patients have everything they need close to home.
”What we’re developing here on the southside will be self-sufficient and provide the same level of care the patient would get anywhere else,” said Dr. Pablo Bedano, oncologist for Community Health Network.
Officials broke ground Thursday on a construction project that will double the size of Community Health Network MD Anderson Cancer Center at Community Hospital South. The $60 million project will add approximately 60,000 square feet to the existing cancer center.
The added space will allow Community to offer cutting-edge cancer treatment close to home to a growing number of patients, as well as allow the cancer center to expand services to include research trials, a genetic counseling and genomics program, and more oncology specialists.
Local residents will have greater access to treatments, detection and more — right in their own backyard.
“One of the hallmarks of our organization is that we fundamentally believe the best service is provided closest to the communities we serve. If you’re a person who lives in Greenwood or even throughout southern Indiana, you don’t want to traverse the whole state to have to get basic cancer services,” said Jason Fahrlander, chief operating officer of Community Health Network.
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The construction project comes as Community has made expanding cancer care a priority in its facilities. In 2022, Community Health Network formally announced a partnership with MD Anderson Cancer Center, considered one of the most respected cancer care centers in the world, to be part of a comprehensive clinical and research cancer program collaboration.
The partnership meant patients would have access to some of the most advance oncology available, including clinical trials and research studies that offer hope against the deadliest of cancers, all near their homes. At the time, the partnership made Community the sixth MD Anderson partner in the country and the only one in the Midwest.
“We’re able to provide advance cancer care so our patients don’t have to fly out of state or drive to a big medical complex, with multiple buildings. That can be scary, especially if you’re sick and going through this cancer process,” Bedano said. “In one building, we can provide all of the studies that people need.”
Even before that, Community Health Network and MD Anderson had collaborated for nearly a decade. The health care system was part of the MD Anderson Cancer Network, which provided Community with expertise and services from MD Anderson.
“The technology advances, our partnership with MD Anderson, we are delivering the highest level of care possible for patients who suffer from cancer, and we’re providing support to the families to help guide them through that,” Fahrlander said.
Community Cancer Care South is currently a 65,000 square foot building that has been providing cancer care for the past 10 years. Their services have included imaging technology, oncology pharmacy, lab, infusion rooms and healing spaces. The expansion will offer space for more of those services inside the three-story complex that will be built on the west end of the current cancer center.
But at the same time, hospital officials envision offering care that has never been available before. The new building will include facilities to conduct Phase I research trials, which is the initial study of new drugs or treatments for diseases including cancer.
“We can give people access to experimental drugs that may take years to be able to be available commercially. They can use them very early on,” Bedano said.
New features also include expanded offerings for genetic counseling and genomics programs, as well as more oncology specialists.
“This will help support the clinical decision-making of our physicians for their patients,” said Richard Funnell, senior vice president of oncology for Community Health Network.
The expansion project is expected to be completed in 18 months. Champlin Architecture designed the expansion, while the construction is being overseen by Pepper Construction.
“Who would have thought in a short 10-year period, we would be talking about literally doubling the size of quality and scope of services of what we provide to the community,” Fahrlander said.
AT A GLANCE
Community Health Network MD Anderson Cancer Center expansion
What: A project to double the size of the existing cancer center on the southside of Indianapolis, allowing space to expand services to include research trials, a genetic counseling and genomics program, and more oncology specialists.
Where: Community Health Network MD Anderson Cancer Center at Community Hospital South, 1440 E. County Line Road, Indianapolis
Cost: $60 million
Size: 60,000 square feet of new space added to the existing 65,000 square feet cancer center
Timetable: Construction to start this summer, expected to last for 18 months.
