Dr. Steven Gabbe, CEO of the OSU Medical Center, said that a recently announced $100 million grant is all about hope.
The Health Resources and Services Administration announced last week that Ohio State’s Medical Center will receive a $100 million grant to support the largest construction project in university history.
Dr. Michael Caligiuri told Gabbe the worst three words for anyone to hear are: You have cancer.
“It’s even worse to say: You have cancer and we don’t have room for you at the James,” Gabbe told The Lantern Monday.
“This grant is about hope because it means more people will be treated right here at OSU. With higher capacity, more people can be treated, more people can benefit.”
The funds will allow for the addition of radiation oncology and associated cancer services, according to a Medical Center press release on Dec. 29. The grant also funds the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.
ProjectONE, OSU med center’s $1 billion expansion project, won the grant through a competitive program created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. OSU was the only institution to win the award.
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown wrote a letter with former Ohio Sen. George Voinovich in support of the grant application.
“To be eligible for funding, proposed new health care facilities must be critical for the provision of greater access to health care within a state and the funding must be essential for the continued viability of the state’s sole medical and dental school and its academic health center,” the senators said in the letter. “ProjectONE meets those requirements.”
Other officials discussed the expansion project’s potential to create new jobs.
“ProjectONE will strengthen the university and the central Ohio economy by creating 10,000 jobs and attracting the best and brightest students, doctors and scientists to Ohio,” said Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland in a written statement last week.
Undergraduate Student Government President Micah Kamrass said the grant represents a great opportunity for the university.
“This will help Ohio State remain a leader in the battle against cancer and will also create new jobs in Columbus,” Kamrass said.
The expansion project is scheduled to be completed by 2014. Expansion plans include a new cancer hospital, outpatient center, research laboratories and classrooms.
