Wanda McCargar was all smiles on Tuesday, Feb. 21, as she looked across the newly remodeled second-floor infusion center at the Patty & George Hoag Cancer Center in Newport Beach.
Diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer nearly two years ago, infusion rooms are where McCargar has spent a good chunk of her time.
On Tuesday, Hoag Hospital’s newly renovated, three-story cancer center reopened to its first patients in 18 months, bringing cancer care under one roof and taking advantage of streamlined cooperation and collaboration between doctors, surgeons, researchers and pathologists, as well as new cutting-edge technologies. During the renovations, its programs had been spread throughout the hospital campus in temporary spaces.
The $28 million facility, part of the Hoag Family Cancer Institute, is also providing new creature comforts for patients like McCargar and their families with a massage room, a state-of-the-art pharmacy with all the needed cancer drugs and quick blood tests used to make sure that patients are well enough to receive chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiation therapies.
“I like the colors and it’s soothing when you look around,” McCargar, 76, said as she walked into the newly renovated center. She’s on a new round of treatment after her seemingly beaten cancer reappeared after months of a mix of chemo and immunotherapies. “And it’s not sterile.”
The infusion center is organized around the patients’ desires, officials said. There’s a social area for those who want to chat with others, there are semi-private and private rooms that can accommodate family and friends tagging along, and there’s an area where patients can get on with their day and get work done during their treatment.
On the same floor as the infusion center is the massage service and a boutique to shop for head coverings and wigs. Hoag treats 4,500 new patients annually and about 20,000 patients come for treatments and doctor visits each year, officials…
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