Carilion Clinic is turning to community sources to fund the final 4% of the cost for a new cancer treatment center, as the health care system’s Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø campus continues to expand.
A fundraising drive launched Thursday, during the city’s holiday Freedom Festival at River’s Edge Park. Carilion staff and officials, including Vice President of Oncology Lindsay Collins, hope to raise $4 million to finish off a six-year, $100 million goal.
“We are very close to our goal,†Collins said. “Anyone can give. Any dollar amount matters.â€
Dirt is already moving at 5 Riverside Circle, the site of the future Taubman Cancer Center. Work is expected to be completed by the end of 2027, officials say.
The new facility will expand Carilion’s cancer care space by more than 6 times its current floorplan and double patient capacity, documents said. Currently, Carilion serves about 3,500 cancer patients annually, but the need is growing, Collins said.
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The construction site of the future Taubman Cancer Center at 5 Riverside Circle in Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø. In the background is Carilion Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø Memorial Hospital with the newly Crystal Spring Tower wing to the right.
“For people who feel passionate about cancer care and want to give, we invite them to do so,†Collins said. “Be a part of this building and a part of the campaign, a part of cancer care of the future.â€
This campaign comes weeks after Carilion opened the new Crystal Spring Tower portion of Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø Memorial Hospital. With work underway nearby on the new cancer center, Carilion’s health care campus in south Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø continues to grow.
The new building will be named after former U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Taubman and his wife, Jenny, who provided a $25 million contribution. Former CEO Nancy Agee and her husband, Steve, provided a $1 million donation that seeded the project, and Carilion employees have raised $2 million, officials said.
A rendering shows how the Carilion Taubman Cancer Center will look in Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø. Construction began in October and is set to be completed by the end of 2027, officials said.
Other businesses and community partners have given toward the $100 million goal, and Carilion hopes to expand the circle of contributors with this public phase of its “reaching far, caring close†campaign, documents said.
“Our current facilities are dated, and we’ve just run out of space. We really need to create a center that provides all of our services under one roof,†Collins said. “We want to create world-class care right here in our community.â€
Collins
The new facility will expand the radiation department, infusion centers and pediatric care, she said. It will also include support services for patients, like a wig boutique for patients to try on new hairstyles in a saloon setting, she said.
“A lot of times cancer care will take patients out of our region,†Collins said. “When patients have to leave the region to get care, they leave their support systems, their homes, their jobs, and it’s an incredible burden on caregivers.â€
Collins said she experienced it herself less than a decade ago, when her father was diagnosed with cancer. She said her family had to leave the region to find care, and she doesn’t want other families to have to make the same choice.
“It is very personal to me that people get the care that they need here in our in our region,†Collins said. “We want to make sure that our community has world class care right here, and they don’t have to leave their world behind.â€
