Siteman Cancer Center location opening in Shiloh; Swansea office complex for sale
A new Siteman Cancer Center location is opening Monday on the Memorial Hospital East campus in Shiloh.
The 39,000-square-foot facility has been on the drawing board for more than two years as a way to improve the quality and accessibility of cancer treatment for Southern Illinois residents. Siteman has five other locations, but all are in the St. Louis area.
“(Siteman is) the region’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center,” said Mark J. Turner, president of Memorial Regional Health Services, which operates Memorial Hospital in Belleville and Memorial East.
“It will mean access to world-class care. It’s access to all the clinical trials that are part of Siteman. It’s access to the expertise, research and clinical leadership of Washington University School of Medicine. It will mean greater convenience for patients in our region.”
Siteman is a partnership of BJC Healthcare and Washington University School of Medicine. Memorial became part of BJC in early 2018.
The Siteman satellite in Shiloh will occupy the first floor of a new $38-million, 70,650-square-foot development known as Medical Office Building 2. It’s connected to Medical Office Building 1, which opened in 2017, a year after Memorial East. Siteman’s temporary facility in Swansea will close.
Medical Building 2’s second floor will house primary care physician offices, and the third floor will provide space for future expansion. Physician offices will include both existing and new practices at Memorial.
“In Medical Office Building 1, we have a couple of primary care practices that are outgrowing their space, so we are expanding those practices into the second medical office building,” Turner said.
Making patients feel comfortable
The new Siteman location is designed not only to accommodate state-of-art equipment and treatment practices, but also to make patients feel comfortable and relaxed at a time when many are sick, stressed out and scared.
Those getting radiation treatments from a medical linear accelerator will gaze up at ceiling panels with images of tropical fish swimming in the ocean. Infusion treatment (chemotherapy) rooms are lined with windows overlooking a tree-lined lake.
Exam and waiting rooms feature bold wall colors, artsy upholstery and original paintings and sculptures by metro-east artists.
“We tried to make it less institutional than many doctor’s offices,” said Louisa Hardwrict, design project manager with BJC.
Plans call for future development of a “healing garden” with outdoor seating overlooking the lake. Research shows nature and art can help with healing, according to Anne Thomure, director of the Memorial Foundation, which is seeking donations for the garden’s $445,000 cost.
Another goal of the new Siteman facility is “supporting” patients with functional amenities such as a hospitality bar and spaces where friends and families can gather. One lounge is equipped with a kitchen. Another has a fireplace and TV set.
“If you have to have cancer, and if you have to have treatments for your cancer, it’s really nice to have them in a state-of-the-art, beautiful and supportive environment,” said Dr. Timothy J. Eberlein, Siteman director. “... One thing that hasn’t changed is that you have the same caring providers (from Swansea).”
That includes Dr. William J. Popovic, medical director, and Dr. Susan Laduzinsky, director of radiation oncology; medical oncologists Dr. Alfred O. Greco, Dr. Guillermo Rodriguez Jr., Dr. John L. Visconti and Dr. Nishant Poddar; radiation oncologist Dr. Jason Lee; and nurse practitioners Alicia Carmack and Rhonda McCabe.
Swansea medical complex for sale
Memorial formerly operated the Cancer Treatment Center in Swansea with St. Elizabeth’s Hospital before buying out St. Elizabeth’s share of the operation in late 2017. In April of last year, St. Elizabeth’s broke ground on a new cancer center near its O’Fallon hospital.
After becoming part of BJC, Memorial transitioned the Cancer Treatment Center at 4000 N. Illinois Lane (Illinois 159) into a Siteman facility, which is closing now that the Shiloh location is open.
The Swansea medical building is for sale. It includes 33,378 square feet of office space on five acres with parking for 150 cars, according to the listing by BarberMurphy Commercial Real Estate Solutions in Shiloh. The asking price is $3.5 million.
“One of the largest office buildings currently available in the metro east,” the listing reads.
Other Siteman locations include the headquarters at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in downtown St. Louis and satellites in West County, South County, North County and St. Peters.
On Friday, the new Shiloh location was buzzing with deliverymen hauling in equipment and supplies, staff organizing cabinets and desk drawers and contractors installing signage and putting on other finishing touches.
Visitors included Jeff Dossett, Memorial East administrator.
“It’s nice to see the finished product and to know the quality of care we’re going to provide to the community,” he said. “The partnership between Washington University, BJC and Memorial truly is going to bring world-class cancer care to Shiloh.”
This story was originally published January 13, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
