St. Francis Cancer Center at Millennium Opens October 20, 2014

Innovative Upstate Outpatient cancer treatment facility melds ‘high tech, high touch’

GREENVILLE, SC – The newly constructed St. Francis Cancer Center at ST. FRANCIS millennium opened its doors to patients Monday, October 20, 2014.

Funded largely by contributions from area donors and Bon Secours St. Francis Health System employees, the St. Francis Cancer Center focuses on the patient experience. Every aspect of the building has its origin in evidence-based design, utilizing the latest research on how clinical settings impact treatment outcomes. The life-sustaining environment of the 65,000-square-foot facility is built to encourage a sense of control and optimism among patients and their families, while fully supporting a multidisciplinary, team-based clinical care model.

Unique to Greenville, the free-standing oncology center provides the next generation of radiation therapy, the Varian TrueBeam℠ Linear Accelerator, which delivers higher doses of radiation to smaller areas. This advanced capability enables Bon Secours St. Francis physicians to treat many more types of cancer—including the most challenging cases—more effectively and with fewer side effects. Current outpatient cancer treatment services offered at ST. FRANCIS downtown that are relocating to the new Center include infusion therapy, clinical trial research, palliative care and nurse navigation.

Robert Siegel, MD, medical director /Bon Secours St. Francis Oncology Program, emphasizes that the new center is more than just a state-of-the-art facility. “Treating the patient as an individual is at the heart of how we provide cancer care,” he said. “Because we recognize and respect the whole patient, the new St. Francis Cancer Center is not only an advanced treatment center, it’s also a sanctuary.”

The Center also houses a boutique, on-site pharmacy, health food café, chapel and a community room for support group meetings and other activities. For the added convenience for patients and their families, the nationally recognized STAR Survivorship program— introduced at Bon Secours St. Francis in 2008 and the first of its kind in the state—will relocate to the ST. FRANCIS millennium campus. Outpatient Oncology Rehab Services also will move to the nearby HealThy Self gym in the Millennium Medical Office Building. Both facilities are easily accessible via Interstate I-85.

“The realization of the Center has been a long time in the making,” said Terra S. Dillard, RN, OCN, Bon Secours St. Francis administrative director for Oncology Services. “We’re excited to expand our services and to provide the compassionate, quality care that our patients expect and deserve in this new setting.”

At the official opening ceremony in November, The Most Rev. Robert E. Guglielmone, Bishop of the Diocese of Charleston (SC), will preside over the blessing of the facility and the unveiling of a specially commissioned sculpture,The Ascending Christ, by local artisans Charlie Pate and Charles Pate, Jr.

St. Francis Cancer Center is located at 104 Innovation Drive off Laurens Road. Click here for more information about St. Francis Cancer Center and the comprehensive Oncology Services offered at Bon Secours St. Francis or call(864) 603-6200 or (toll-free) 1-844-2CANCER (1-844-222-6237).

ABOUT BON SECOURS ST. FRANCIS HEALTH SYSTEM

The Mission Statement of Bon Secours St. Francis Health System is to bring compassion to healthcare and to be “Good Help to Those in Need^®,” especially those who are poor and dying. As a system of caregivers, we commit ourselves to help bring people and communities to health and wholeness through the healing ministry of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church.

With innovative technology, we heal the body. With faith, we mend the spirit. We draw from a past that’s rich in the healing tradition, while strengthening the future through the guidance and support of the Ministry of Bon Secours and Bon Secours Health System, Inc. To learn more, visit www.stfrancishealth.org.