When the new Cancer Center of Santa Barbara opens its doors on Monday, September 18, it will be a dream come true for the trustees who launched the Center almost 20 years ago. Built with extraordinary support from the community, the Cancer Center will boast a new name: the Ridley-Tree Cancer Center, named after Leslie Ridley-Tree, honorary campaign chair and a tireless supporter of many causes important tot eh Santa Barbara community.
Ridley-Tree Cancer Center has been designed to serve the entire region with expanded capacity and the most state-of-the-art technology found anywhere on the Central Coast. Offices in Solvang and Lompoc provide access to all the treatment and care that Ridley-Tree Cancer Center offers. Patients throughout the region have a world-class Cancer Center, close to home, family, and work.
The three-story, 54,780-square-foot medical center near Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara will bring all members of the Center's Santa Barbara oncology team to a single, convenient location where patients can access all aspects of multi-disciplinary care including medical oncology and hematology, radiation oncology and hematology, radiation oncology, surgical oncology, clinical research, genetic counseling, patient navigation, nutrition, social work services, resource library, wellness, and community outreach. "Offering world-class care in our own community is so important. There is a comfort in that which helps the healing process," said Ms. Ridley-Tree.
"Cancer medicine is no longer 'one size fits all.' Each patient gets a treatment plan custom tailored to their unique situation," explains Dr. Fred Kass, Medical Oncology director at Ridley-Tree Cancer Center..
Sansum Clinic and the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara worked seamlessly to develop the project. National healthcare design firm Boulder Associates teamed up with Cearnal Collective LLC to design the building. Planned to blend in with the craftsman-style bungalows that surround the Oak Park neighborhood, the new building provides a warm space for patients to receive the full spectrum of cancer care in alignment with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) best practices for cancer care. The construction of the new building was led by general contractor G.L. Bruno Associates, a firm specializing in healthcare projects.
Once open, the existing building at 540 West Pueblo Street will become a half-acre Healing Garden, while the radiation oncology space in Cottage Hospital will be used by nuclear medicine, and the medial oncology department on the second floor at Sansum's Clinic at 317 West Pueblo Street will be re-purposed. The Wolf Education and Training Center and six craftsman-style apartments on Junipero Street will be finished by early 2018 to complete the campus.
The Campaign for Our New Cancer Center continues to make steady progress. As of August 9, Sansum Clinic and the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara had raised gifts and pledges in excess of $47 million toward the $53 million cost of the new Ridley-Tree Cancer Center. With the Campaign for Our New Cancer Center ending on December 31, 2017, support is still needed for this once-in-a-generation, life-saving facility. Naming opportunities remain available - from tribute tiles and trees to entire departments - ranging from $2,500 to $2 million. For a brochure and complete list of naming opportunities, please contact Rob Dunton at the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara at (805) 898-3620 or at rdunton@cfsb.org or Dru A. Hartley at Sansum Clinic at (805) 681-7726 or dhartley@sansumclinic.org.
The Ridley-Tree Cancer Center will boast two state-of-the-art radiation treatment machines, chemotherapy infusion suites, surgical procedure rooms, a research division, a healing garden, rooftop patio, and the Wolf Education and Training Center (an 80-seat, theater-style center for continuing education of physicians, nurses, and the community), among many other patient services.
"If you look at other communities the size of Santa Barbara, you won't find a Cancer Center similar to ours. The Cancer Center of Santa Barbara is a true treasure, and I am proud to support it," said Vicki Hazard, Sansum Clinic Board of Trustees, Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara trustee.
Via Montecito Journal