See What’s Building at Fox Chase Cancer Center

• Fox Chase Cancer Center is looking a little different these days as various construction projects are getting underway around campus.

  

  Soon, families will have two surgical waiting areas available to them. Renovations of the third-floor waiting area of the hospital are expected to be completed by early September. Amenities will include private consultation rooms, a section to secure personal belongings, a refreshment area, a quiet space for reflection and a space for watching television. Charging stations for electronic devices, as well as new flooring and artwork, will complete the space. In addition, the area will provide more natural light and the use of pagers will allow family members to freely move around campus and still be easily reached by clinical staff.

  Funding was secured from the 2015 In Vino Vita wine auction and benefit, which raised and earmarked more than $300,000 for the project.

  The mezzanine level of Fox Chase’s Young Pavilion has provided a temporary waiting area for families while work is being completed. The space has been met with so much positive feedback that it will be kept intact permanently to provide extra room for visitors. The volunteer office will coordinate staffing for both areas.

  Additionally, planning is ongoing for the expansion and renovation of the infusion room, where patients receive chemotherapy. The work will encompass the existing footprint and expand into the courtyard, providing patients with scenic views of Fox Chase’s gardens and green space. Extra treatment chairs will be added to the room, which will not impact outdoor walkways or terraces.

  

  There are also plans to construct a brand new retail pharmacy on campus. The pharmacy will occupy the existing Lippincott Room and will provide service to both clinic patients and discharged hospital patients. The on-site location will permit easier access to specialty oral chemotherapy drugs and hard-to-acquire pain medications.

  Finally, contractors recently turned over space in the lower level of the Young Pavilion to accommodate a linear accelerator for radiation therapy, and the work will be finalized once the equipment arrives and is installed. Also on the lower level, new PET scan and MRI equipment will occupy dedicated space together and will be available for use later this year. A new CT simulator will be installed in late July, after the existing machine is removed and renovations are completed.