• 1/20/2005
  • South Bend, Indiana
  • Heidi Prescott
  • South Bend Tribune

About one year ago, Dr. Rafat Ansari participated in a cancer care roundtable conference in Chicago. The oncologist listened to discussions convincing him of the future direction of cancer treatment in the region. This direction was unveiled on Wednesday by Ansari, an oncologist at Michiana Hematology-Oncology, and administrators at Memorial Hospital. The two health groups have partnered to build and operate a regional $20 million Cancer Care Center north of Memorial in downtown South Bend.

The plans call for a 70,000-square-foot, free-standing center to be built just west of the current hospital entrance. The building will extend over the existing Bartlett Street toward Madison Elementary School. It will open in late 2006.

The idea is to bring every kind of physician and clinical service a patient may need in one place, said Ansari. Today, cancer patients might need to see three or four physicians in different locations.

“We learned the only way to go is to have one single cancer center where all the disciplines are met,” said Ansari. “We’ve been discussing it for over 10 years now, and finally we decided the timing is right.”

About 160 people will work in the Cancer Care Center. The center will comprise Michiana Hematology physicians as well as support staff members from Memorial Hospital. It also will mean the creation of new jobs, hospital officials said. The center will house multi-disciplinary clinics, including thoracic oncology, breast cancer, prostate cancer, head and neck cancer, as well as genetic counseling clinics. And it will comprise physician offices, outpatient chemotherapy suites, radiation and radiology and education areas.

“Most of all, on a drive down Michigan Street, it represents a place where hope lives,” said Dr. Ken Anderson, vice president of Memorial Hospital.

Street work to accommodate the new building should begin this spring, Anderson said. To make way for the center, Bartlett Street will close from Michigan Street to Lafayette Boulevard. The hospital will build a new connector between Michigan and Lafayette, south of Madison Elementary. A new hospital front entry is also planned, and officials said ample parking will be made available for the spaces taken away for the care center.

“These are new beginnings of cancer care for our community,” said Dan Neufelder, chief operating officer at Memorial Hospital and Health System.

Michiana Hematology plans to make the cancer center its primary South Bend location, Ansari said. It will leave 100 Navarre Place, allowing Memorial physicians to use it for additional offices, Ansari said. But the oncology group will retain a presence at its several other Michiana area offices, he said, “for additional care close to patients’ homes.”

South Bend city officials are looking forward to Memorial’s latest physical expansion, its partnership with Michiana Hematology, and its continued investment downtown.

“As a regional medical center this is a wonderful expansion,” said Sharon Kendall, executive director of the city’s community and economic development department. “Now you won’t have to go to larger cities, because the professional services and care will be local and in one location.”