Cancer Center Fosters Care Collaboration in North Carolina

The new Cancer Center and Bed Tower at the Vidant Medical Center Eddie and Jo Allison Smith Tower in Greenville, NC, is the largest and most expensive project in Vidant Health’s history, an investment geared toward the ultimate goal of “a life without cancer.” The 410,000-square-foot, six-story building consolidates and expands cancer diagnosis and treatment services for the currently underserved Eastern North Carolina patient population, bringing inpatient and outpatient services into one convenient place so that patients can receive all of their care in one location.

The center is transforming cancer care in Eastern North Carolina and is an important part of Vidant Health’s commitment to improving the health and well-being of the people who proudly call this region home. Cancer specialists from Vidant Health as well as The Brody School of Medicine at Eastern Carolina University will work under one roof. Advanced teleconferencing capabilities connect doctors across the region and allow them to securely share medical record, images and ideas. They then collaborate on individual cases and develop the best plan of care for each patient.

Key features of the Vidant Cancer Center include:

• The 135,000-square-foot Outpatient Cancer Center encompasses nearly all of the first floor and all outpatient services, previously scattered in undersized spaces are brought to one location.
• Three landscaped gardens located within the cancer center footprint reflect and reinforce the center’s mission to provide healing and renewal to the patients seeking treatment.
• The center holds 48 semi-private infusion bays, 12 private infusion rooms and an adjacent chemotherapy pharmacy. All patient areas in infusion look out over two private healing gardens.
• Radiation oncology has its own clinic dedicated to examinations and consulting, while examination and diagnostics—consisting of four multi-disciplinary clinics with 12 exam rooms each, and a breast imaging clinic for follow-up—has a large care provider conference suite allowing physicians and care teams to collaborate with remote expertise to determine the best course of treatment for each patient.
• The 96-bed Inpatient Bed Tower was outfitted with two additional floors for the up-fit of 96 more beds in the future.
• All patient rooms are acuity adaptable and family-centered. Cancer inpatients remain in this area to facilitate the movement of cancer specialists between inpatient and outpatient. Off-stage connections at the basement and third floor greatly enhance the patient experience by rendering virtually invisible the movement of supplies, trash and staff not working directly with patients. These off-stage floors can accommodate the emerging use of robots for delivery of supplies and removal of trash minimizing their interaction with patients.
• At several locations inside, and in the outdoor healing gardens, labyrinths designed to foster meditation, reflection and calm carve out spaces of respite. Soothing colors, soft music and abundant natural light are interwoven into every detail of the facility to create a welcoming environment for patients and their families.
• The “Flowering Tree” theme of the facility can be seen in the leaf-pattern design of supergraphics on the walls and the “Tree of Life,” a mosaic pillar in shades of brown and green located in the registration area near the donor recognition wall, a pattern of leaves along the wall, each representing a donor who helped turn Vidant’s dream of a full-service cancer center into reality. Patient counseling, integrative therapies, a retail pharmacy and patient resources are provided near the lobby.
• With a focus on Vidant’s philosophy to heal the mind, body and spirit, the new facility has an open, daylight-filled layout with artwork that represents the life and nature of the state of North Carolina. The Resource Center includes space for patients to receive complementary therapies such as art, yoga, massage and music.