A fundraising effort to help pay for a multiphase expansion of the Edward Cancer Center in Naperville was announced Friday.
The Edward Foundation’s Campaign Against Cancer seeks to raise $1 million to cover part of the undisclosed price tag for 34 new infusion bays, two earmarked for private beds and nursing stations; 20 new examination rooms; and an expanded waiting area to accommodate patients and families, a news release said.
The registration area is also to be modified to provide increased patient privacy.
While officials are remaining tight-lipped on how much the total renovation will cost, it is expected to be in the millions of dollars, said Jenna VanGilder, administrative director of cancer services and Plainfield campus operations for the cancer center.
The foundation’s fundraising efforts will include naming rights for the various treatment areas, foundation Executive Director Meghan Moreno said. The foundation’s mission is to raise funds to cover the costs of services and programs that current operating budgets do not, she said.
Despite Edward’s recent addition of a cancer center in neighboring Plainfield, the tide of patients needing care has not stemmed, said Keith Hartenberger, public information officer for Edward-Elmhurst Health.
The Naperville cancer center treated about 56,000 solid-tumor patients and 21,000 hematology patients in 2015, Hartenberger said. It has also seen a 35 percent increase in medical oncology patients and a 10 percent increase in the number of patients who need infusion therapy, he said.
“The numbers have been steadily going up for a number of years, and even with the facility in Plainfield, we’re seeing an increase in the number of patients being treated, and that’s caused the need for treatment space and additional space for the families of patients,” Hartenberger said.
According to the National Cancer Institute, an estimated 1,685,210 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the United States and 595,690 people will die from the disease in 2016. The most common forms diagnosed in the U.S. are cancers of the breast, lung, prostate, colon, skin, thyroid, kidney, pancreas and renal pelvis area, as well as leukemia, endometrial cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, institute data shows.
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The cancer center has 16 regular oncologists and five outside specialists who come in to see patients, VanGilder said. How you treat cancer has become more of a team-based approach with the different doctors and support staff, she said.
“That doesn’t count social workers, genetic counselors and others involved in working with patients,” VanGilder said.
With as many as 150 patients using the Edward Cancer Center per day, there have been times where it has run out of chairs for patients needing infusion treatments, she said. The addition of the new infusion areas will have an immediate impact on how patients are treated at the facility, she said.
The first phase of the expansion has already been completed, with physicians relocating so the space for their offices could be turned into examination rooms. Other expansion phases will take place over the coming year.
Alex Keown is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.