INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) — An expansion to the Community Health MD Anderson Health Center on the south side of Indianapolis is starting to take shape. It’s been just over a year since a fire at the construction site.
The crew behind the effort says the work is about 80% complete. The interior rooms are starting to look like those of a health center, with counters being installed in some.
With construction back on track, the hospital system says it will nearly double the space to take care of cancer patients in the area.
Craig DeShong with Pepper Construction gave WRTV a tour of the unfinished site.
“Waiting area on the other side, here where we’re standing will be the reception desk,” DeShong said. “This will be mostly administration offices up here on the third floor.”
The construction superintendent worked on the original cancer center about 14 years ago. Now he’s helping the expansion move along.
He says healthcare projects are always rewarding.
“You see patients come every day, you see staff come every day,” DeShong said. “Knowing that we’re doing something within the community that helps everybody out, it’s fantastic.”
When the expansion is complete, it will add 55,000 square feet to the center. That includes an additional 13 exam rooms and nine infusion rooms.
Community Health Oncology Services Executive Director Erik Bare says his team has high hopes for the new addition.
“Our hope is to expand the existing services that we have and also offer new services on the south side, Bare said. “So we’re very excited about all of that.”
The expanded Community Health MD Anderson Cancer Center South was supposed to wrap up at the end of 2025, but a construction-site fire altered the project’s course.
A welder’s torch started a fire at the site on May 9, last year. It left significant smoke and water damage. Eight patients were evacuated as a result.
Project Manager Keith Smith says the crew made the best out of the setback.
“What was handed to us was really kind of an awkward situation,” Smith said. “In the big scheme of things, I think it turned out to be a phenomenal opportunity for us to grow as an organization and grow as a team.”
The second floor of the cancer center will feature physicians' clinics. There will also be more room for the breast cancer program on the third floor.
Bare says it will translate to better quality of care for patients.
“The more physicians that we can get together in one location, the more collaboration, right? The more opportunities for multidisciplinary care,” Bare said. “Those physicians can collaborate and make sure the patient’s getting a comprehensive care plan that meets all of their needs.”
Before the fire, construction was estimated to cost about $60 million.
The Expanded Community Health MD Anderson Cancer Center South is expected to open this fall.
