Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) announced the beginning of construction on its South Lake Union (SLU) campus to add a new six-story, 150,000 square-foot outpatient cancer treatment clinic. The largest single construction project in SCCA history, the new building will feature a patient-centered design, highly specialized treatment clinics and state-of-the-art procedure suites to expand and enhance SCCA’s services and advance its ability to deliver world-class cancer care and conduct cutting-edge research.

“We are thrilled to begin construction on the long-awaited clinic expansion project that will bring SCCA’s patient-centered approach and comprehensive, integrated cancer care to a larger population of patients,” said Executive Vice President Aaron Crane. “SCCA’s SLU campus expansion is driven by a strong demand for oncology services across our region and the anticipated growth of emerging treatment innovations that often require specialized equipment and infrastructure.”

“In the midst of an ongoing global pandemic in which so many of us have witnessed firsthand that our health should never be taken for granted, I am incredibly grateful and proud to have some of our nation’s leading cancer care specialists working to serve our communities at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance,” said U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal. “All patients and families undergoing cancer treatment deserve compassionate, comprehensive care during a challenging time. This new South Lake Union campus expansion will allow SCCA to continue to ensure cancer patients in and around Seattle have access to world class, highly specialized forms of care, and will further its ability to provide cutting edge treatment and research – all with patients at the heart of the work.”

The new building will leverage the clinic design of SCCA’s recently opened Gastrointestinal (GI) Oncology Care Neighborhood, which features dedicated GI-related cancer care services on one floor of SCCA’s main South Lake Union campus. Each floor of the facility features flexible rooms, which make it possible for patients to receive all medical oncology care, such as lab draws, nurse and provider visits, infusions, and supportive care visits in one room to improve efficiency and patient comfort. 

When the clinic opens in early 2023, it will offer six Care Neighborhoods, which are units dedicated to treating specific cancers, with more than 60 flex rooms for patient care—and room to expand to a total of nine Care Neighborhoods. Dedicated care teams will be collocated in each of these areas for more effective coordination of care.

The building is also planned to also have a new  state-of-the-art procedure suite with targeted capabilities including interventional radiology services, a new magnetic resonance (MR) room and a satellite mammogram suite that utilizes both MR and traditional mammography – which is to help alleviate the need for patients to travel between buildings for various treatments and services. 

“We wanted to be intentional with the design of this new clinic to further SCCA’s model of patient-centered care,” said SCCA’s Chief Nursing Executive and Vice President of Clinical Operations & Facilities Terry McDonnell. “Every aspect of this building was planned with the experience of the patient in mind, and it is being constructed with space flexibility that will allow us to seamlessly bring on new services, integrate new technology and advance innovations in care.”  

A pedestrian bridge will connect the new and existing buildings and will include a new three-level robotic parking garage for 180 cars. Patients will drop off their vehicle with a centralized valet who will transport the car to one of the garage’s three stories with robotic lifts and platforms that shift cars vertically and horizontally. This garage will be the first of its kind in Puget Sound and the largest in the Pacific Northwest.

As part of Washington’s only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center, SCCA brings together the leading research teams and cancer specialists from Fred Hutch, Seattle Children’s and UW Medicine. The organization is committed to delivering patient-centered, high-quality care through a multidisciplinary approach — one that combines cancer experts, groundbreaking treatment, and comprehensive care from referrals to survivorship — in collaboration with its partners.