Sarasota Memorial moving forward with third phase of Brian D. Jellison Cancer Institute

Site work on $220-million Cancer Pavilion expected to begin later this year

This is a rendering of the SMH Cancer Pavilion. Image courtesy Sarasota Memorial Hospital

On May 16, the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board authorized Sarasota Memorial staff to move forward with construction of a new 7-story Cancer Pavilion on Waldemere Street, Sarasota Memorial Hospital (SMH) staff has announced.

“Preliminary plans also call for an adjacent parking garage and sky bridge connecting the pavilion to the oncology tower SMH opened on its Sarasota campus last November,” a news release notes.

“The pavilion will be the third in a series of premier facilities that are part of the health system’s expanding Brian D. Jellison Cancer Institute,” the release continues. “Responding to the rising number of local cancer cases and the complexity of modern cancer care delivery, the health system launched its comprehensive cancer program in 2018 to give cancer patients, caregivers and medical providers access to the latest treatments, technologies, clinical trials and supportive care in their own community,” the release points out.

“A key focus of the Jellison Cancer Institute is building upon our existing medical expertise with advanced technology and the full continuum of care for our community,” said David Verinder, CEO of Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, said in the release. “The Cancer Pavilion is key to the continued development of the Jellison Cancer Institute and our vision to create an outpatient treatment center that has all aspects of cancer care under one roof,” he added in the release.

Site work on the $220-million Cancer Pavilion is slated to begin later this year, pending regulatory permits and approvals, the release notes. Conceptual plans feature a 200,000-square-foot facility on the north side of Waldemere Street, “steps away from the Jellison Cancer Institute Oncology Tower,” the release adds.

“To make room for the pavilion and parking garage with about 700 spaces, SMH plans to demolish the existing Cape Outpatient Surgery Center and smaller SMH-owned building on the southwest corner of Floyd Street and U.S 41,” the release explains. “As part of a planned, phased approach with the recent opening of the Oncology Tower,” the release continues, SMH temporarily will relocate outpatient surgeries from the Cape to operating rooms in the hospital. Outpatient surgeries will resume in the Cancer Pavilion after it becomes operational, the release says.

This graphic shows how the Cancer Pavilion will be incorporated into SMH’s Sarasota campus. Image courtesy Sarasota Memorial Hospital

SMH selected EYP Architects and Turner Construction/J2 Solutions to design and build the new facility, the release adds. “When complete, the pavilion will house a new breast health center, outpatient surgery suites, radiation oncology, infusion services, diagnostic imaging, and integrative and supportive care,” the release notes.

The Cancer Pavilion also will be home to medical, surgical and radiation oncology physician clinics, said medical oncologist Richard Brown, MD, who serves as the Institute’s chief program medical director and who oversees a team of more than 90 specialists caring for local cancer patients, the release adds.