New Construction

IU Simon Cancer Center Expands With New Patient Care Facility

In August 2008, the IU Simon Cancer Center, in partnership with Clarian Health and IU School of Medicine, will open the first phase of a $150 million, 405,000-square-foot integrated outpatient and inpatient center with an environment that fosters both a holistic approach to care and collaboration between basic research and physician scientists. The new facility will bring inpatient and outpatient care under one roof at the corner of West Michigan Street and University Boulevard. It will allow more patients to have access to the world-class specialists and innovative therapies that have always been found here. IU School of Medicine and Clarian Health are collaborating to expand their resources in cancer-related patient care, research, and medical education. This new facility is our commitment to the future of cancer care and emphasizes IU and Clarian’s dedication to the most comprehensive and innovative cancer treatment in a family-focused environment.

Watch a video of the groundbreaking ceremony »

The facility, which is connected to Indiana University Hospital, will make the most advanced treatment facilities and modern, comfortable resources available to patients. The five-floor building will have the capacity for 80 new cancer treatment beds, for both in-patient and out-patient care, facilities for up to 40 patients receiving chemotherapy, as well as many other patient and family amenities.

The new facility, when all phases are complete, will include: 

  • 80 new cancer bed capacity (28 for medicine/surgery, 18 in ICU, shell -- 34 beds)
  • 40 chair infusion area (can be expanded to accommodate another 20)
  • Three floors for outpatient clinics: one floor completed; two floors in shell space
  • Renovation of two existing clinics
  • 14-16 operating rooms (six completed; eight to 10 rooms in shell space)
  • Radiation oncology space for two additional treatment machines
  • Radiology and imaging expansion for cancer patients
  • New space for support services:
    • Cancer Registry
    • Patient and family education and resource center
    • Café and eating area
    • Accessible gardens
    • Valet parking; dedicated patient parking in the Vermont Street Garage
    • Chapel and quiet rooms
    • Retail pharmacy
    • Teaching and education space
    • Collaborative physician/nursing research
  • Continued renovation of Indiana University Hospital from semi-private to private rooms

Scientists in New Research Building Will Focus on Cancer

The Indiana University School of Medicine groundbreaking for a new $83.3 million research facility was in October 2005. When Research III is finished in 2008, the 254,000-square-feet structure will complete the transformation of the north side of Walnut Street on the Indiana University Medical Center campus into a three-building, 500,000-square-feet interconnected research complex where scientists can interact to share their work and vision. Many of the scientists in the complex will be working to bring the results of basic scientific research to the bedside in new treatments for cancer patients.

The primary focus of the scientists in the 118 laboratories of Research III will be solving the puzzles of cancer and developing treatments specific to its various forms. Many will be engaged in translational research – turning the discoveries of basic science into treatments delivered at the bedside. Significant clinical efforts already underway in breast, prostate and ovarian cancer, as well as genetic and blood-related disorders, will benefit from the laboratory science support of this new facility.

Other specialized cancer research initiatives moving into the new building will include experimental and developmental therapeutics, the tumor microenvironment program and hematopoiesis and immunology. Research III also will be home to the Center for Immunobiology, an interdisciplinary group of faculty that studies organ transplant immunology, autoimmunity, innate and acquired immunity and the immunobiology of cancer.

Research III will house repositories that bank the vast array of human cells, tissues and DNA needed for research in cancer and many other human disorders, as well as the NIH-sponsored National Gene Vector Laboratory program, which provides services to scientists who conduct gene therapy trials.

Funding sources for constructing and equipping Research III include $33 million in "fee replacement" bonding approved by the Indiana General Assembly in 2003, $25 million in academic research facility bonds, $10 million from the Riley Children's Foundation, $9 million from the Indiana Genomics Initiative, $3.7 million from a National Institutes of Health grant and $2.6 million from the IU School of Medicine.