Dr. Hannah Hazard-Jenkins, head of the WVU Cancer Institute at Thomas Memorial Hospital in South ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä, speaks at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025.
A new chapter in cancer care has begun in South ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä with the opening of the WVU Cancer Institute at Thomas Memorial Hospital. The transformation of a former physical therapy space into a new state-of-the-art treatment center will allow the hospital to expand its oncology services and see more patients from around the region.
The WVU Cancer Institute at Thomas Memorial Hospital located at 500 Poplar St., is a full-service, regional treatment center where clinicians can treat virtually every type of cancer, including breast, lung, colorectal, prostate, head and neck, brain, gynecologic, skin and hematological disorders.
The new space is four times larger than the oncology department’s previous home in Thomas Memorial and allows for specialized cancer treatment and clinical visits in one building. Patients can also receive infusions beside a fireplace, leaned back in a recliner. There is also a garden and artwork along the walls. Patients can receive treatment with natural light and large windows.
Dr. Hannah Hazard-Jenkins, head of the WVU Cancer Institute at Thomas Memorial Hospital in South ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä, speaks at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025.
The center includes 17 exam rooms, one procedure room, an onsite lab and 32 infusion bays. Representatives with WVU Thomas Hospital also said a pharmacy is coming soon.
According to Dr. Hannah Hazard-Jenkins, executive chair and director of the WVU Cancer Institute, having all the institute’s cancer services in a consolidated area is efficient and allows a patient’s doctors to communicate, which is important due to the complexity of cancer care.
Both Greg Rosencrance, WVU Medicine Thomas Hospital’s president and CEO, and Hazard-Jenkins emphasized an approach of “being big and acting small.â€
For example, Hazard-Jenkins said being part of the larger WVU Health System provides WVU patients in rural areas access to specialized resources and services, like bone marrow transplants and cellular therapies, that may not be available at smaller, standalone facilities.
The system allows patients to receive certain advanced treatments in Morgantown and then follow-up care closer to home at facilities like Thomas Memorial Hospital, which has long-term employees from the local community.
“So being big gives you resources you may not otherwise have, but acting small means that everybody’s a person,†Hazard-Jenkins said. “When you have one-on-one touch [from health care professionals], when you are being treated and cared for by people you see in your community on a daily basis, there’s a level of trust, respect and care that is different than if you are big and act it.â€
Receiving treatment close to home for these therapies can help patients as well, helping them with factors like morale and costs. Hazard-Jenkins argues this could be especially important in the rural state of West Virginia, which she said has some of the highest incidence and mortality rates for cancer in the country, especially in the southern counties.
The Cancer Institute is the second cancer treatment center in Kanawha County, along with the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Area Medical Center’s Cancer Center, at 3415 MacCorkle Ave. SE.
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