Emory University’s new Winship Cancer Institute in Midtown, which officially opened in May, exemplifies the current health care trend of putting patient needs first in the design process.
The building is packed with features aimed at making the hard process of cancer treatment easier, Amy Breakstone, the project administrator, told the Atlanta Business Chronicle during a recent tour.
The building at the corner of Linden Avenue and Peachtree Street also brings new purpose to what was formerly a surface parking lot. It was named the Special Use Deal of the Year winner in Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 2020 Best in Real Estate Awards.
The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation provided a $400 million health care grant to Emory, with $200 earmarked to build a new cancer treatment center. The charge accompanying the grant was to “build something never seen or imagined.”
All told, the 450,000-square-foot building has 17 floors and 80 inpatient beds. The total price tag was around $440 million. The building has Silver LEED certification. Its windows are angled so that sunlight can get in but glare never falls directly on patients’ faces.
The Winship Cancer Institute at Midtown joins other Winship facilities located throughout the Emory network. The Midtown facility is structured around two-floor “care communities,” each aimed at treating a different type of cancer. The facility treats lung cancer and malignant blood cancers; genitourinary and gastrointestinal cancers; head and neck cancers; and breast and gynecologic cancers.
“We’re offering hope here,” Breakstone said.
Winship is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Georgia.
Many of its features reflect new trends in cancer treatment.
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Atlanta Business Chronicle took an exclusive tour of the 17-story institute.
Winship's mind-body-soul commitment
The second floor is dedicated to integrative oncology and survivorship, Breakstone said. The goal is to make sure that patient’s minds and souls are cared for as well as their bodies.
The area provides space for group acupuncture, often used to help patients with pain and mobility. There are rooms for consultations with pain specialists and naturopathic doctors.
In addition, there is a spiritual center, rooms for seminars or support groups, and a rehabilitation center for physical, occupational, speech and other forms of therapy.
Winship is devoted to patients' quality of life throughout and after treatment, Breakstone said.
Immediate cancer care center
The hospital also has Georgia's second cancer-specific immediate care center. The other is located at Emory University Hospital on the Clifton Campus. Fewer than a quarter of cancer centers nationwide have such immediate care centers, according to an Emory press release.
Currently open six days a week from 7 am. to 11 p.m., the goal is for Winship patients to avoid local urgent care or emergency room facilities. That way cancer patients can be treated by people who are familiar with their conditions and medical history.
Eventually, Winship will also open a 10-bed ICU at the facility, for similar reasons.
On-stage/off-stage
On-stage/off-stage design is a growing trend in health care. The goal is to decrease the amount of noise and disruption patients are exposed to while providing staff breathing room and space to collaborate “behind-the scenes,” Breakstone said.
Only those services and staffers that are needed for direct patient care are visible in patient areas. Each floor has an inner sanctum that patients cannot see. That off-stage space provides areas for the staff to work on medical charts and consult with each other. There is also storage for supplies and medications.
The off-stage space also has a small freight elevator, often called a dumbwaiter, to transport medication from the pharmacy to the floor to decrease patient wait times for services.
2021 net patient revenue
| Rank | Prior Rank | Hospital |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Northside Hospital - Atlanta |
| 2 | 2 | Northeast Georgia Medical Center Gainesville |
| 3 | 3 | WellStar Kennestone Hospital |
