The beam was placed at the project’s 15-acre site in Carterville, Ill., last week, and signifies a major milestone in the construction of the upcoming 42,000-square-foot facility. Before positioned, the beam was displayed at various SIH locations where viewers who have been impacted by cancer were encouraged to sign the landmark beam.

“We wanted this to be a symbol for strength and support that all of us at SIH work for,” said Jennifer Badiu, SIH system director of Cancer Care Services, in a statement. “But it also represents all of the community who have given friends and family members the strength and support they need through their journey.”

The beam was given a special placement in the entrance of the facility, so all cancer patients, health care provides and visitors will pass under it.

The $24 million facility, which will combine the health care center’s existing radiation therapy locations and its medical oncology clinics, features two radiation vaults, medical oncology infusion spaces, medical clinic suites, administrative offices, lab, rehab gym, meeting rooms, retail space and a self-service eating area.

The project received unanimous approval from the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board in May 2013. The new cancer center will be the region’s first freestanding cancer center and the community is anticipating the new center’s positive impact.

“From the beginning, this project has received substantial community support by way of the many letters sent to the review board on our behalf and fundraising support through our SIH Hope is Home campaign. We look forward to building the region’s first comprehensive, state-of-the-art cancer center,” said Rex Budde, president and CEO of SIH, in a statement.

The new center is also centrally located, which eases the stress of traveling long distances to receive care, according to project leaders. The cancer center is situated in a wooded site, east of Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge and north of Illinois Route 13.

“This will improve quality and coordination of care, not to mention convenience for patients in the region who are at risk for or are fighting cancer,” Badiu said.

The project is serving one of the most at-risk populations in the state of Illinois. The Hope to Home campaign is seeking to raise $10 million for the state-of-the-art cancer care facility.

“Of the 16 counties in our primary and secondary service areas, Franklin, Johnson and Alexander fall in the top 10 for cancer incidence rates in the state. With the exception of Jackson County, the majority of counties in deep southern Illinois have cancer rates that are higher than the state average,” Badiu said.

The project broke ground in September 2013 and is on track to be completed in December 2014. Lawrence Group, headquartered in St. Louis, is the project architect and McCarthy Building Companies, with offices in Collinsville, Ill., Inc. is the contractor.

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The interdisciplinary facility was designed to foster collaboration between the various departments: bioinformatics, genomic medicine, gastrointestinal medicine, childhood diseases, pathology, immunology, inflammation, psychiatry, cardiology, neurosciences, infectious diseases and glycobiology.

“We’re very proud to unveil this beautiful new facility,” said Mark Rowland, principal architect and project manager for UCSD, in a statement. “Researchers from many departments and programs will unite and collaborate here to produce new therapies that will save lives.”

The seven-story research facility features five floors of wet bench laboratories, open lab space, lab support space, seven stories of administrative office space, interaction spaces and conference rooms. The strong focus on interdisciplinary collaboration is showcased in the open lobby, which serves as an interaction space. The dynamic design of the lobby includes an iconic cast-in-place concrete staircase that climbs seven stories up and one story down.

“We’ve partnered with McCarthy on a number of UC system projects in the past and are very pleased to be celebrating yet another successful collaboration with them,” said Joe Collins, FAIA, a partner with ZGF and principal architect. “We’re on track to receiving LEED Platinum certification, which would make this one of the most innovative and sustainably designed research labs in the University of California system and quite possibly the entire nation.”

A computer-controlled exterior solar shading system on the east, west and south facades reduces visual glare, cooling load and energy use, while the radius ceiling shape helps redirect sunlight to provide optimum daylighting, according to project leaders. Other sustainable features include daylighting, radiant heating systems, operable windows, individual thermostats, displacement ventilation, LED lighting, a water reclamation system, low VOC materials and high-efficiency mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.

“The highly MEP-intensive floor was the most technically challenging aspect of this construction project,” said Bob Betz, senior vice president of McCarthy. “BIM was utilized extensively to help in the coordination of these spaces, along with BlueBeam for the electrical plan room. We brought our subcontractors aboard during the initial design phases to help us fashion a seamless, integrated building process.”

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The St. Louis-based contractor McCarthy Building Companies Inc. announced the construction milestone on Dec. 20. HKS Architects, headquartered in Dallas, and St. Louis-based Archimages are serving as the project’s architects.

Following the devastation of an EF-5 tornado that hit the city in May 2011, the former St. John’s Regional Medical Center was left in ruin after it was directly hit. The tornado was recorded as the state of Missouri’s deadliest since 1947. The community quickly responded by planning the new replacement hospital, which began the planning stages in July 2011 and broke ground in January 2012.

“This is hallowed land that no longer belongs to Mercy but to the story of Joplin, of residents enduring a massive disaster by coming together to rebuild and move forward,” said Gary Pulsipher, president of Mercy Hospital Joplin, in a May 2012 statement. “We hope new uses of the campus can weave together as sort of a healing quilt for the city.”

The 260-plus private room replacement hospital will be larger than its predecessor and will include medical surgical, critical care, women’s and children’s, behavioral health and rehabilitation units. The 50-acre campus will also include a seven-story patient tower and a four-story clinic tower.

The milestone is on track with the construction team’s aggressive schedule, according to Ryan Felton, project director with McCarthy.

“In order to keep everyone on track, we have been managing quality through daily inspections, pre-installation meetings and by involving third-party building exterior consultants,” Felton said in a statement. “To date, all built-in-place mockup rooms have been completed, first installations have been verified, windows have been water tested and a thermography scan has been conducted.”

Offside roadwork, two permanent service elevators and a separate 30,000-square-foot central utility plant connected to the hospital via a 450-foot underground tunnel were also reached substantial completion. The central utility plant is expected to open in the early months of 2014.

The contractor’s 39-month schedule includes more than 750 tradesmen. In order to keep up with the aggressive schedule and ensure jobsite safety, McCarthy conducts weekly jobsite toolbox talks, weekly manager walks with all subcontractor managers and daily task hazard analysis.

“McCarthy has a strong quality assurance program that provides strong leadership and oversight of the building enclosure elements such as precast, window and roofing systems,” said John Farnen, executive director of planning, design and construction for Mercy, in a statement. “This includes inspections and testing of these systems during installation. On the Mercy Hospital Joplin, this process uncovered issues during the installation that were addressed and resolved preventing schedule delays. I am confident the McCarthy quality program will achieve the level of quality Mercy expects. McCarthy understands the importance of quality on the project and delivers it.”

The project is scheduled for completion in March 2015.

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