But dozens of guests attending a ribbon-cutting ceremony helped celebrate months of labor finally coming to fruition in the form of the new $53 million cancer center, featuring one of the largest chemotherapy suites in the region, a specialty pharmacy and a cafe catering to the nutritional needs and tastes of patients.
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“This is a milestone for us,” said Kettering CEO Fred Manchur. “It seems like it was just yesterday that we were digging the soil. There will be nothing like this building in southwest Ohio…or in the country.”
The cancer center will house the area’s largest and most private infusion center for cancer patients, and will be home to more than 30 cancer physician specialists working together to meet the needs of patients, according to network officials.
The center was developed with guidance from a patient advisory council, comprised of cancer patients and survivors, who were consulted on everything from building and interior design to furniture and fixtures.
Keynote speakers lamented the loss of several members of the advisory council who succumbed to their illnesses before the ribbon cutting, but celebrated their courage and tenacity in helping to complete a project that will provide coordinated care to hundreds of patients across the region.
“Everything has been done with patients in mind,” said Kettering President Roy Chew. “And the physicians have been a tremendous asset in helping to bring it all together…and to truly make this a patient-centered center, where people can come and get care close to home. That’s really the hallmark of this facility.”
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