Duke University Health System filed early this week a Certificate of Need for a $250-million expansion of its cancer center in hopes of increasing its patient services.
The filing explains the need for an expansion and includes architectural designs and plans to construct a 265,000 square-foot addition to the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center and renovate 14,400 square feet of the existing Morris Cancer Clinic, according to a Duke University Medical Center press release.
"This expansion would allow Duke to keep pace with the growing demand, locally and statewide, for the kind of sophisticated, leading-edge cancer services that we are committed to providing to the people of North Carolina," Dr. Victor Dzau, chancellor for health affairs and president and chief executive officer of DUHS, said in the statement. "We will continue our planning related to this project in hopes of receiving an approval from the CON division. Duke is committed to continuing to be a national and international leader in cancer-related patient services and clinical and basic research."
The approval process is expected to take approximately six months, although it depends largely on how much paperwork the state needs to review, said Kevin Sowers, Duke Hospital's chief operating officer. Officials hope to begin construction on the three-year project in July 2009, according to the release.
The expansion plan is the hospital's response to growing cancer rates in North Carolina, especially around the Triangle area. Recent studies and research expect a 21-percent increase in cancer rates in the Triangle area and a 13-percent increase in North Carolina in the next five years, Sowers said.
"This increase in new cases combined with growing number of patients' survival rates both need to be recognized and taken care of," he said.
Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center already prides itself as one of the top cancer treatment institutions in the U.S. It is one of the nation's 41 cancer centers designated as comprehensive by the National Cancer Institute, and gained further repute after a successful brain surgery on Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., in June 2008.
In order to keep up with recent developments and demand for cancer research and treatment, however, Sowers believes that the hospital needs this renovation and expansion.
"With researches on genome therapy and other practices, it is important that it is now possible to really differentiate and design treatment plans specific for the individual," he said. "Through this project Duke Hospital will be able to accommodate rising patient numbers and get a cutting edge in research."
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