Nevada Cancer Institute adds support center

Construction on the three-story, 101,000-square-foot support services building and adjacent parking garage at Nevada Cancer Institute in Summerlin is well under way and on schedule for an early 2009 opening.

The new building will house a number of services and functions, including a 200-seat conference center, offices, clinical trials office, cancer registry, dry labs and a medical education library.

"This support services building will enable all NVCI employees to be housed on one campus," said Sandy Murdock, NVCI chief executive officer and president. "That synergy will allow us to do what we do best -- bring excellent state-of-the-art care to our patients and continue to push the boundaries of research for groundbreaking cancer therapies."

Currently, NVCI has 26 clinicians and researchers and a staff or more than 350 -- a number that is expected to continue growing with the facility. Plans for another expansion are already on the drawing board, according to Murdock. This expansion includes a 150,000-square-foot building dedicated exclusively to research that will house up to 45 investigators and a core lab to support research and expand basic and translational research.

NVCI opened its 115,000-square-foot, three-story flagship building on 5 acres in the master-planned community of Summerlin in September 2005. Since opening, more than 5,800 patients have visited the center -- a number that far surpasses original estimates made by the institute.

"In many ways, we're surpassing expectations," Murdock said. "We're proud of our track record to date and are setting our goals even higher going forward."

NVCI is a nonprofit cancer center that offers comprehensive cancer research, education and patient treatment. The facility is one of several medical centers already located in Summerlin. Others include Summerlin Hospital Medical Center, The Heights of Summerlin, Pueblo Medical Center, Rainbow Medical Center and Sun City Medical Group.

"Convenient access to quality health care is an integral part of any community and a top priority here in Summerlin," said Tom Warden, senior vice president of community and government relations for The Howard Hughes Corp., developer of Summerlin. "The community is already home to an impressive list of health care centers that continue to grow and expand with the community."

Developed by The Howard Hughes Corp., an affiliate of General Growth Properties Inc., Summerlin began to take shape in 1990s and is located along the western rim of the Las Vegas Valley.

Summerlin encompasses 22,500 acres with about 9,000 acres still remaining to accommodate future growth within the master plan, including the community's urban core of Summerlin Centre.

The community is currently home to more than 95,000 residents. Amenities include more than 100 neighborhood and village parks, more than 150 completed miles of the Summerlin trail system, nine golf courses, a dozen houses of worship, shopping centers, medical and cultural facilities, business parks, 22 public and private schools and nearly 100 actively selling floor plans.

For more information, visit summerlin.com or call 888-898-5015.