Baptist Health to build 200,000 square foot Cancer Center

[thelakelander]

This would be pretty big for downtown, if it is built on one of their large Southbank surface parking lots. For comparison's sake, the new J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Tower is 338,000 square feet.

Baptist partners with MD Anderson to take cancer care to the next level in Jacksonville

Baptist Health announced today plans to build a new cancer center on its Jacksonville campus that will provide patients across the region with access to the expertise and care of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

The partnership, which will begin in 2015, is expected to add a “significant number of jobs” to the local economy, according to Hugh Greene, president and CEO of Baptist Health.

The new facility, which will carry the MD Anderson name, is expected to be approximately 200,000 square feet when complete. Details of exactly how much construction might cost and where on Baptist property it would be built have not been finalized yet. Baptist will bear the cost of the infrastructure investment.

Full article: http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2014/09/24/baptist-partners-with-mda-anderson-to-take-cancer.html

[Keith-N-Jax]

Very good news in many ways. Taking up a surface lot is like adding ice cream to pecan pie.

[JayBird]

I would assume this would probably go on the surface lot on Prudential that currently serves as parking for the Aetna Building, just for keeping it in the current cluster of their other centers. But anywhere in the Southbank/San Marco area will be a great addition and bring Jacksonville into the fold with Orlando and the same facility currently being built in Miami for MD Anderson.

[Bill Hoff]

With two world class cancer treatment / research centers already in Jax (Mayo Clinic & UF Proton Therapy Institute) it's interesting that another is choosing Jacksonville, especially since UF Health, as a university system, is so entrenched in the area already.

[Rob68]

Why are they building anything?  Isnt there enough empty space? Why not the old courthouse..heck. theres lots of choices.

[MEGATRON]

Why are they building anything?  Isnt there enough empty space? Why not the old courthouse..heck. theres lots of choices.

lmao

[brainstormer]

Why are they building anything?  Isnt there enough empty space? Why not the old courthouse..heck. theres lots of choices.

Sorry Rob, but did you really think your comment through? If you know anything about the old courthouse, then you know it is more likely to give you cancer than cure you. 

[carpnter]

Why are they building anything?  Isnt there enough empty space? Why not the old courthouse..heck. theres lots of choices.

AHCA Regulations are why.  They couldn't do enough to the courthouse to even come close to having a facility that would comply.  On top of that they have a perfectly good parking lot across the street from their complex that they could easily build a new tower on.

[spuwho]

If they are using a surface lot, then the parking will get pushed out, either to another surface lot or to a new garage.

One economic benefit to having the MD Anderson name on it is it will help fill a lot of beds in local hotels.

Jacksonville is definitely becoming a major health care hub. To be gaining so many Tier 1 providers in a metro area will only raise the playing field for all involved.

[Rob68]

Why are they building anything?  Isnt there enough empty space? Why not the old courthouse..heck. theres lots of choices.

Sorry Rob, but did you really think your comment through? If you know anything about the old courthouse, then you know it is more likely to give you cancer than cure you. 

i thought it through very well...we have empty building everywhere..it would cost less to refit a building than build a new one and anyone who tells us otherwise isnt thinking about saving a building..not just the courthouse..lots of empty space downtown...or are you guys just blind and unwilling to see a future without tearing down a building...lazy developers and designers is what it is...hell..the laura trio could work..or just part of it...

[jaxjaguar]

The only building that miiiiiight work for them would be the old JEA building.... It's still about 50,000 square-feet too small and I doubt it's up to spec/code for a cancer center. While I'd love to see that building re-purposed I highly doubt it would be possible. It makes the most sense for them to expand on their current campus. It would help fill in the South Bank sky line a little more too.

[acme54321]

I would imagine they would want it on their existing campus.  Putting it on the other side of the river wouldn't make much sense.   I'd rather see them eat up on of their many surface lots on the southbank.

[Lunican]

This is good news. I'm usually in favor of re-purposing buildings but in the case of a hospital it just isn't feasible. A modern hospital has a lot of feature that no other building will have. Also, renovating an old building wouldn't fit into their timeline (especially in Jax).

[Jason]

Why are they building anything?  Isnt there enough empty space? Why not the old courthouse..heck. theres lots of choices.

Sorry Rob, but did you really think your comment through? If you know anything about the old courthouse, then you know it is more likely to give you cancer than cure you. 

i thought it through very well...we have empty building everywhere..it would cost less to refit a building than build a new one and anyone who tells us otherwise isnt thinking about saving a building..not just the courthouse..lots of empty space downtown...or are you guys just blind and unwilling to see a future without tearing down a building...lazy developers and designers is what it is...hell..the laura trio could work..or just part of it...

Today's hospitals are built to a MUCH higher standard than anything currently available within our existing building stock downtown.  Floor to floor heights are typically higher because of the plethora of utilities that fill the ceiling cavities which would instantly eliminate most of the existing empy buildings downtown as a potential candidate, especially the historic ones.  And if Baptist choses to use one of their surface lots for their new building we won't be seeing any demolition.  Outpatient centers, general practice, optometry, etc could use existing vacant space but not a cancer center/hospital.

[JayBird]

With two world class cancer treatment / research centers already in Jax (Mayo Clinic & UF Proton Therapy Institute) it's interesting that another is choosing Jacksonville, especially since UF Health, as a university system, is so entrenched in the area already.

Simply put, it is because there is high demand.  Proton Therapy has proven to be highly successful to a multitude of cancer types; both in terms of remission rates and in the effects on the patient. After spending the past year going through chemotherapy and radiation treatments for pancreatic cancer, the doctors have done what they can and it stopped growth, but still need to reduce the mass size before I can consider surgery. Proton therapy is the only way to do this (10 years ago, I would've been classified as terminal); these are my anticipated wait times for the waiting lists I am currently on, keep in mind I applied to these centers in May, 2014:

Sloan-Kettering (my primary care provider): Summer/Fall 2015
UF Jacksonville: 20-24 Months (as of Sept. 1, 2014)
Penn Medicine-Roberts: Target April, 2015
MD Anderson Orlando: January-March, 2015

The reason for these times is simply due to demand, they can only treat so many people at a time, and the machines necessary are high cost so there aren't many in the nation when you consider all the types of cancer it can treat.

This is a huge benefit to Jacksonville, just look at 3rd & Main in Springfield to see the benefits that something like this can have on the community.