Thursday, February 21st 2013 had to have been an amazing day for UA Cancer Center director, Dr. David Alberts. For well over a decade he has dreamed of a comprehensive cancer center in downtown Phoenix and the ground breaking ceremony marks the day has come.
In approximately two years, the UA Cancer Center will be a 220,000 square foot, five story, $100,000,000 (yes that is 100 million) campus providing an impressive suite of cancer service. The National Cancer Institute terms this type of facility as a “comprehensive center” and Phoenix will be home to the only one in Arizona and one of only 41 across the nation.
The University of Arizona is one of several partners in this project. St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center is another major player as well as the City of Phoenix. The City has provided the land and some of the investment capital to make this happen.
The Ground Breaking Ceremony for UA Cancer Center by Gene Urban
Al Bravo, the UA Marketing guy, sent me an invite to the ground breaking ceremony. I guess he knows I am very passionate about UA Med’s importance to downtown Phoenix and this new facility is just one more example of how significant UA is to our community.
The ceremony was a who’s who in politics, medicine and the downtown Phoenix scene. You could have lit up Maricopa county with the power players present. Several hundred people were welcomed by D-Back’s CEO Derrick Hall. If you’ve never heard him speak I have to say he is impressive. His delivery was energetic, affable and in the moment… nothing canned about his style. Hall introduced a number of speakers including UA President Ann Hart, ST. Joes Dignity Health President Linda Hunt, Mayor Greg Stanton and UA Cancer Center’s Director Dr. David Alberts.
Each speaker was wonderfully warm and sincere. I say that because so many ceremonies of this kind are filled with dozens of “I” and “look at me” statements from the various speakers . The presenters at this ground breaking talked about the important of the center and the vision of the people who made it possible.
I was especially taken by Linda Hunt and Dr. Albert’s talks. The were both giddy with excitement. There was no doubt this is a dream come true and the benefactor will be the thousands of lives and families they will make healthy and happy. Below is a little YouTube thing I put together so you can get a taste of the event.
The next time you are driving down 7th Street south of McDowell keep an eye out for the UA Cancer Center’s rise from the ground. In just a couple years it will be a permanent addition to the medical-based landscape of downtown Phoenix and who knows what new addition to Phoenix we’ll be talking about then.
Best to you,
Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
gene@UrbanConnectionRealty.com