Sinai Hospital plans to build new 125,000-square-foot outpatient cancer center

Sinai is building the new facility to consolidate its outpatient cancer resources into one building at its Northwest Baltimore campus. The Sinai Hospital Cancer Center, designed by Wilmot Sanz of Rockville, is expected to be completed by 2025.

“All the departments that will ultimately be in this building, are spread out throughout the whole campus right now,” said Rick Sasaki, a partner at Wilmot Sanz. “They want to bring all that together. So you can serve the patient a lot better, rather than having that patient traipse all around the hospital.”

The Sinai Hospital Cancer Center on Greenspring Avenue has been designed to contain 39 new infusion bays for chemotherapy and other treatments, 22 new exam rooms along with radiation oncology suites and other support services and spaces. More cancer care is now being done without admitting patients into a hospital and the new center is intended to meet that growing need.

Cancer patients who require hospitalization will be cared for in Sinai’s existing in-patient facilities. Sinai also plans to hire more specialized oncologists and conduct more clinical trials and cancer research. A statement from the hospital, which is part of LifeBridge Health, said total project costs will be calculated once the final plan is prepared.

Along with the three-story building, the plan also includes a 60-space parking garage.

Sinai officials presented designs for the new center before the city's Urban Design and Architecture Advisory Panel Thursday. In giving feedback on the plans, UDAAP chairperson Pavlina Ilieva said it’s important to make the entryway more welcoming to patients. Ilieva compared the current design to an office building, not a hospital.

UDAAP member Osborne Anthony agreed that changes to the building would help improve the patient experience. He said the current use of stone makes the building look like a memorial, which could have a negative impact on patients going through a traumatic time.

”These are times when patients need to be touched, they need to be hugged, you have to understand that as they arrive at this building, the building needs to really embrace you," Anthony said.