Jim Fair
Cutting the ceremonial ribbon to the St. Francis Cancer Center are, left to right, Camilla Hertwig, Board Chair of the Bon Secours St. Francis Health System, The Most Rev. Robert Guglielmone, Bishop of the Diocese of Charleston, and Mark Nantz, CEO.
Jim Fair
Jim Fair
Getting in position for the ceremonial ribbon cutting are, Bishop Guglielmone, Mark Nantz, Dr. Alex Xuezhong Yang, oncologist, and Dr. Stephen Dyar, Upstate Oncology Associates.
Jim Fair
A sculpture of Jesus, by local artist Charles Pate, was unveiled in front of the Cancer Center.
The St. Francis Cancer Center, at its millennium campus, was blessed today by The Most Rev. Robert Guglielmone, Bishop of the Diocese of Charleston.
A sculpture of Jesus by local father-son artists Charles and Charlie Pate was unveiled in front the building.
"This isn't like going to a hospital, this is like going to a place where you have other people on your journey to fight cancer," said Mark Nantz, CEO of the Bon Secours St. Francis Health System. "Inside it resonates anything but sickness. It resonates resurrection, healing and life."
Nantz said the $10 million fundraising project has reached its midway point ($5 million) with donations from employees ($1.3 million) and donations.
The 65,000-square-foot Cancer Center focuses on the patient's experience. It is built to encourage a sense of control and optimism among patients and their families, it also supports a multidisciplinary, team-based clinical care model.
The Gibbs Cancer Center is partnering with St. Francis for Gibbs' partnership with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and its affiliation with the M.D. Anderson Physicians Network.
"It is a day of pride and indeed a day of gratitude we come so close to this season of Thanksgiving dedicating this building," Guglielmone said. "We see a building here that meets the needs of people in a new, creative and different way. Indeed we are thankful."
The Center also houses a boutique, on-site pharmacy, health food cafe, chapel and a community room for support group meetings and other activities. The STAR Survivorship program will move to the millennium campus and Outpatient Oncology Rehab Services also will move to the nearby HealThy Self gym in the Millennium Medical Office building.
Dan Yarborough, who has been treated for 3.5 years for cancer, said the Cancer Center represents a facility with all the contemporary equipment and care he has become familiar with since spending nearly 900 days in some form of cancer environment. "Sometimes its two hours a day, and some days are eight hours," Yarborough said.
"For us this is a great way to end this process of building and now it's time to enter the process of growing," said Dr. Stephen Dyar, Upstate Oncology Associates. "It's time to let patients know what's here and to let other physicians who need help in taking care of patients know what's here and provide that faith, hope and expertise to our patients.
Dyar said the Cancer Center provides a larger facility with amenities favorable to patients. "The patients are getting use to here and they feel comfortable.
"This is done in the environment of healing instead of an environment of sickness. We're excited because we have the opportunity for patients to come into (the Cancer Center) and not see themselves as being sick, but more in a healing environment," Dyar said.
Learn more about the St. Francis Cancer Center.