AMITA Health has recently opened the AMITA Health Cancer Institute and Outpatient Center in Hinsdale, Illinois. This newly constructed two-story, 54,000-square-foot facility comprises AMITA Health Network’s consolidation of cancer treatment services from Adventist Hinsdale Hospital and from Adventist LaGrange Memorial Hospital, as well as the latter’s outpatient imaging services.
Realized by contractor Bulley & Andrews and architecture firm ESa, the center represents the future of cancer treatment. Cancer patients are used to going from location to location for various elements of their care. The Cancer Institute not only offers every service except surgery under one roof, but also situates everything on the ground floor. The result is an exceptional patient experience, both comprehensive and welcoming.
The design by ESa is thoughtful and person-centered, with features such as imaging areas visually separated from treatment areas. This way, undiagnosed patients would not be waiting in the same offices as patients already receiving intensive therapy.
Along with implementing design features such as strict division between imaging and treatment facilities, Bulley & Andrews found solutions to the project’s immense structural demands. The institute houses four massive vaults for equipment related to imaging, scanning and radiation. The walls, floors and ceilings of every vault are made of solid concrete between four and eight feet thick.
In addition, the building was designed to allow for future vertical expansion, which required extensive additional reinforcement of the existing load-bearing walls, even above and beyond the reinforcement needed to support the massive vaults.
