By LOIS KINDLE
Community leaders gathered Jan. 10 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the upcoming opening of Moffitt Cancer Center’s newest location. Moffitt CEO and President Patrick Hwu, MD; his executive team; and the not-for-profit institution’s founder, H. Lee Moffitt, were on hand.
The 75,000-square-foot ambulatory center, situated on nine acres at 2709 College Ave. E, Ruskin, will open to patients Jan. 27.
Employing more than 150 team members, it’s expected to treat nearly 9,000 patients within its first five years of operation. The building’s advanced technology is aimed at providing a superior patient experience, cutting-edge clinical trials and life-saving clinical outcomes.
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Everything about Moffitt at SouthShore is first-class. In additon to its outstanding team of dedicated medical professionals, the building’s advanced technology is aimed at providing a superior patient experience, cutting-edge clinical trials and life-saving clinical outcomes.
Courtesy Photo
The ultramodern Moffitt at SouthShore outpatient center will open for patients Jan. 27. Seen here is a view of the completed facility on Jan. 10, the day of the grand opening ceremony.
To ease the burdens of treatmen, Moffitt Cancer Center builds outpatient centers like this one to bring world-class cancer care to the communities where people live.
“As a breast cancer survivor who made the trek to north Tampa for frequent radiation, this is meaningful and personal for me,” said Sun City Center resident and community leader Debbie Caneen. “And my husband continues to makes his annual pilgrimage to Moffitt for bloodwork related to non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
“This new outpatient center in Ruskin will save him and so many others in our senior community almost two hours of transportation time alone,” she continued. “It will make such a difference to people living in this part of the county.”
LOIS KINDLE PHOTO
H. Lee Moffitt, the man who made Moffitt Cancer Center and all it has achieved possible, stands beneath his own words in the foyer of the Moffitt at SouthShore ambulatory center in Ruskin, immediately after its grand opening ceremony Jan. 10.
The new Moffitt at SouthShore location will provide specialized oncology services through the following clinical programs: Breast Oncology, Cutaneous Oncology, Gastrointestinal Oncology, Genitourinary Oncology, Head and Neck Oncology and Malignant Hematology. Its specialists will be accepting appointments to screen and treat cancers of the bladder, blood and bone marrow, breast, esophagus, head and neck, kidney, liver, lymphatic system, pancreas, prostate, skin, stomach and more.
That’s incredible news for cancer patients and their families in communities throughout southern Hillsborough County, Bradenton, Sarasota and other areas south of Tampa.
As previously reported in The Observer News, the goal is to get closer to the patient and provide the same level of care as Moffitt does at its main campus. Eighty to 90% of Moffitt’s services will be offered and provided on site in Ruskin.
Those services include advanced imaging; biopsies; blood draws; clinical lab services; clinical trials; infusion services; medical oncology; radiation oncology; pharmacy; screening and diagnostics, including mammograms, PET scans, CT scans and MRIs.
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Moffitt Cancer Center CEO and President Patrick Hwu, MD, cuts the celebratory ribbon during Moffitt at SouthShore’s Jan. 10 grand opening in Ruskin. With him, from left, are Sabi Singh, exec. VP and COO; Karen Lu, exec. VP and physician in chief; Hwu; Moffitt founder H. Lee Moffitt; Matt Bednar, VP, ambulatory and virtual care services; Tim Adams, board president; Jazmin Calzada, director of nursing and ambulatory clinic operations; and Justin Menendez, lead project manager, Whiting-Turner Contracting Co.
Surgical procedures and anything requiring anesthesia will continue to be done at Moffitt’s main campus.
The new outpatient center features 22 infusion bays; 18 clinical exam rooms, 10 blood-draw bays; three MRI machines; four radiation oncology exam rooms; two CT scans; two ultrasounds; two mammography units; two linear accelerators; a gamma camera; clinical lab; food services café; and more.
Moffitt Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center based in Florida.
For more information on its locations, mission, research and more, visit www.moffitt.org or call 888-663-3488. For an appointment call 833-593-1881, or to learn more about Moffitt at SouthShore, visit its Facebook page or https://tinyurl.com/4xa2y6z5/.