New McKinley Outpatient Center at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center lauded

November 2, 2015

 
 
Yvette C. Hammett | Tampa TribuneTBO.com 
 
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center is preparing to open its new outpatient center with a long list of patient care options ranging from skin cancer treatment to survivorship services to a breast cancer clinic and diagnostic imaging.
 
The $88 million, six-story McKinley Outpatient Center, located about a mile from Moffitt’s main campus, welcomed VIPs from across the state Friday to celebrate the completion of the 207,000-square-foot facility, which officially opens Nov. 9. The city of Tampa and Hillsborough County donated the 30-acre site.
 
Before the new center, Moffitt offered the outpatient services, but they were were scattered across several locations. The McKinley Outpatient Center allowed the hospital to combine those services in one place and free up space for expansion at the main hospital on the University of South Florida campus.
 
Without the outpatient center, the landlocked hospital, now the fastest-growing cancer center in the country, would have not be able to expand, officials said.
 
“I have to pinch myself with how remarkable this institutiion has become,” founder H. Lee Moffitt said after the official ribbon cutting. “I had absolutely no idea it would become the crown jewel of the state.”
 
Moffitt said it was initially difficult to get the state to set aside money 32 years for the cancer center, but he managed it after becoming Speaker of the House in the state Legislature.
 
“Now, it’s grown to the point there was no more room for expansion” at the main cancer center, Moffitt said.
 
Since its opening, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center has served about 350,000 patients and seen millions of outpatient visits. Many thousands more are expected to come through the doors of McKinley.
 
“It is a beacon of hope to all those courageous individuals who have battled cancer,” said Jack Kolosky, Moffitt’s chief operating officer.
 
Having the new center offer all breast-health services in one location will be a boon to both patients and staff, said Christy Smallwood, manager of breast imaging and diagnostic imaging for Moffitt.
 
“It’s all combined here, including clinical research,” she said before the ribbon cutting. “A lot of studies go on for which we’ve already scheduled a lot of patients, many on the first day we open.”
 
When they arrive, patients will find a state-of-the-art facility equipped to handle their illness and their everyday needs, said Paul Lombardi, with the Patience Advocacy Council.
 
Lombardi, himself a cancer survivor, helped design the center. He said Moffitt made a real commitment to patients and their families, down to the automatic flushing toilets, paper towel dispensers and sinks in the rest rooms, to serve those with compromised immune systems.
 
Among the other services offered at the new outpatient center, at 10920 N. McKinley Drive, Tampa, is blood draw/clinical lab, screening and diagnostic mammography, including 3-D mammography, MRI, bone density testing, X-rays and ultrasound, outpatient surgery, a pharmacy and genetic risk assessment.
 
yhammett@tampatrib.com
Twitter: @Yvette_Hammett
(813) 259-7127