Cancer Center Nears Completion
Construction teams continue to make progress on the St. Joseph Hospital Cancer Center. Structural work was completed over the summer, with the last structural steel beam put into place in August. The Center should be fully enclosed by January 2008, and interior construction and equipment installation will take place over the winter and spring. The 87,000 square foot building is scheduled to open in July 2008.

Philanthropy played a key role in the development of the Cancer Center, as the hospital embarked upon a Cancer Center Capital Campaign to complete the project.

The campaign concluded its fundraising activities on December 31, 2007 having raised over $22 million in private philanthropy. This was cause for celebration, as the campaign surpassed its initial $18 million goal.

An active volunteer campaign committee, strong hospital leadership, and a compelling need for cancer services in the community all contributed to this success.

Gifts to support the building campaign came from grateful patients and their families, community members, and others who had been touched by cancer.

The campaign also received support from private foundations, including the Henry L. Guenther Foundation, which contributed $2 million for the purchase of a Mobetron intraoperative electron beam radiation therapy device. This rare piece of equipment (one of only two in the state, 21 in the world) allows physicians to apply radiation therapy to a tumor during surgery, reducing side effects, increasing survival rates, and expanding treatment opportunities.

Funds will continue to be raised for Cancer Center program and equipment needs. Click here to donate to the Cancer Center today!

"The new St. Joseph Hosptial Cancer Center is what we dreamed of many years ago when Nancy was treated there. It will not only be state-of-the-art in staff and technology, but will blend comprehensive superior patient care, a hallmark of the St. Joseph environment, into what will become the major cancer treatment center of Southern California."

Carm and Nancy Santoro