Sutter Health and Stanford Medicine on Monday unveiled a new, five-story cancer center in Oakland that they hope will be a regional “one-stop shop” for outpatient oncology care in the East Bay.
The center aims to accommodate the projected growth in cancer patients, which Stanford estimates will double in the next decade. Many patients must currently drive long distances to receive various components of cancer treatment.
The Oakland location plans to open some services, including radiation and imaging, on Dec. 1 and remaining services – infusion, apheresis, complex care, ambulatory surgery, pharmacy and lab – on Feb. 3.
The 167,000 square-foot center, at 3023 Summit St. on Sutter’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center campus, cost about $400 million. It was announced in 2021 as a joint venture between the two health care providers. Both Stanford and Sutter physicians will practice there.
“This cancer center unites our teams around a shared goal: expanding access to exceptional cancer care, comprehensive support and greater hope for better outcomes, close to home,” Stanford Health Care president and CEO David Entwistle said in a statement.
The Oakland center will consolidate the two providers’ East Bay outpatient cancer care, which is currently housed in Berkeley (Sutter) and Emeryville (Stanford), under one roof. The site was previously a parking lot with medical offices and labs.
Sutter will move its current East Bay outpatient cancer services from the Alta Bates Herrick campus in Berkeley to the new Oakland location. Herrick will close for cancer care and become a behavioral health unit and provide general infusion for non-cancer conditions such as hyperemesis and infections, said Laura Van Pelt, nursing director of Sutter Health outpatient oncology services.
Stanford will move most of its oncology services from its Emeryville location, which includes various medical specialties, to Oakland.
“Cancer care is becoming more advanced and personalized, and patients should not have to leave their community to benefit from that progress,” Sutter CEO Warner Thomas said in a statement. “By combining our strengths, we can bring specialized treatments, clinical trials and comprehensive support closer to home.”
The Oakland center will house a complex care unit, which provides urgent care for oncology patients. This is important because it keeps patients with low immune systems out of emergency department waiting rooms, Van Pelt said.
Patients will also have access to clinical trials, genetic counseling, nutrition counseling, complementary therapies like acupuncture and massage therapy, palliative care and survivorship programs.
Sutter and Stanford also have a separate joint venture to provide specialized radiation oncology at Sutter Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley.