$50 million is the goal
The Arizona Cancer Center recently created the women's cancer program to improve patient care by bringing treatment services and research under one umbrella.
But it will be able to do more treatment and more research if Lute and Christine Olson are successful in raising $50 million for the program.
The way director Setsuko Chambers describes it, cancer patients won't have to go see one doctor for chemotherapy in one part of the complex, then another for radiation somewhere else and then go to another section for surgery. In her vision, patients would come to one main place for their care and doctors would be able to work as a team on the best treatment options.
Renovation of a new cancer treatment building is already under way at the old Tucson General osteopathic hospital facility, north of University Medical Center at 3838 N. Campbell Ave. Clinics are expected to move out to that facility, and it is also expected to provide more amenities for patients, from skylights to healing gardens and weight-training facilities.
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Planning is still in the very preliminary stages - Chambers cannot say if the size of the faculty would double, for instance, or quantify what might happen with research. But in her vision, if the $50 million target is reached, she would like to have a building devoted specifically to women's cancers, plus invest more in treatment and research, since some breast cancer patients are already on a wait list.
If the fund-raising drive is successful, Chambers said, the improvements to the women's cancer program could be phased in within the next two to five years.
Want to help?
The official fund-raising effort isn't under way yet, but donations are welcome anytime. Checks can be sent to the Arizona Cancer Center, P.O. Box 245013, Tucson, AZ, 85724, c/o the Development Office. Note on the check that donations should be targeted to the women's cancer program. For more information, call 626-5279.
