Roswell Park Celebrates Groundbreaking on New Clinical Sciences Center

BUFFALO, NY – Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center broke ground today to begin construction on its new 11-story Clinical Sciences Center, marking the first new construction at Roswell Park since 2007 and the first clinical expansion since 1998.

The 142,000 square-foot facility will be located at the corner of Michigan and Carlton Streets and will offer enhanced clinical care resources to help Roswell Park save lives and find cures for cancer.

“This is a great day for Roswell Park, our patients and the entire Western New York community,” said Donald L. Trump, MD, FACP, Roswell Park president and CEO. “With a special thanks to the generosity of our major donors, the new Clinical Sciences Center is now on schedule to meet the ever-increasing needs of Roswell Park patients for compassionate and innovative patient care.”

More than 25 major donors, elected officials and special guests participated in the groundbreaking ceremony, which was the official start to this major expansion to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

When completed by fall 2015, the new Clinical Sciences Center will be connected to the adjacent Main Hospital building and the Grace Cancer Drug Center. Among the expansion highlights that the state-of-the art facility will feature are:

• Breast Center 
• Expanded Mammography Center with the capacity to conduct 10,000 additional screening mammograms annually
• New Chemo-Infusion Clinic
• Adolescent and Young Adult Clinic
• Patient Education and Survivorship Programs to reach patients, caregivers and family members
• State-of-the-art office facilities and space for clinician-scientists to analyze data from clinical studies

The new expanded Chemotherapy Clinic at the Center will be double the capacity of the current Chemo Clinic, while also offering patients a picturesque view of Buffalo’s skyline. The Breast Center will, for the first time, offer the community screening mammography services, and the Patient Education/Survivorship Center will be an added service for Roswell Park’s 31,000 patients and their families. The facility will also provide new office space for clinicians and translational researchers in close proximity to their clinics and laboratories.

Upon opening the Clinical Sciences Center will allow many clinics and patient care areas in the Main Hospital to be expanded and renovated to meet the increasing demand for cancer care. Roswell Park has experienced a 39% increase in active patients during the past five years and a 58% rise in outpatient appointments over the past decade. These increases are driven by a variety of factors including an aging population and as community knowledge of Roswell Park’s expertise and better clinical outcomes has increased, so has the demand for its services.

Roswell Park also announced that it has entered into a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) approved by 18 local trades unions which favors the use of local contractors and labor for the shell, core and four clinical floors of the new center. The Clinical Sciences Center will be responsible for the creation of more than 200 construction and 340 long-term full-time jobs.

"Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has once again demonstrated its commitment to inclusive hiring and contracting with this project, which will involve a diverse workforce and heavy participation from local businesses," said Paul Brown, President of the Buffalo Building Trades Council. "The Clinical Sciences Center is good for Buffalo and good for Roswell Park, and the Buffalo Building Trades are eager to help get it across the finish line.”

The $40M project was partially funded by $25 million that was raised through Phase I of “Making Room to Save Lives: The Campaign to Build a Greater Roswell Park” – a Roswell Park Alliance Foundation initiative. The campaign began in June 2011 with a generous $10 million donation from the “Circle of Ten”’ – a collaborative gift from 10 business and philanthropic leaders in Western New York. Since its launch, 425 donors contributed to Phase I including Roswell Park employees who collectively donated more than $1 million. Phase I was closed out with a $1.5 million donation from New Era Cap Co last November. Roswell Park is pursuing $4 million for the project through the New Market Tax Credit financing program. In addition to campaign proceeds and tax credit financing, Roswell Park and the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation have committed the balance to the project. The Roswell Park Alliance Foundation launched Phase II of the campaign earlier this year to raise an additional $10 million to continue the build out of the top four floors.

For more information about the new Clinical Sciences Center and the “Making Room to Save Lives” campaign visit www.roswellpark.org/giving/donate/capital-campaign.

About Roswell Park: 
The mission of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is to understand, prevent and cure cancer. Roswell Park, founded in 1898, was one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. The Institute is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs. For more information, visit Roswell Park’s website at http://www.roswellpark.org, call 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355) or email AskRoswell@Roswellpark.org.