Dignity Health is beginning work on a new state-of-the-art cancer treatment center in San Luis Obispo, located near Tank Farm Road and Broad Street.
"I would have loved to have been able to have a one-stop shop," said Candice Galli, a cancer survivor and the executive director for Cancer Support Community.
The new two-story Dignity Health Cancer Center will have a variety of cancer resources under one roof, a design Galli says would have been helpful while she was fighting cancer.
"I had to travel out of the area to get treatment because there wasn't a specialist here for me," said Galli.
According to California Health Maps, between 2017 and 2021 there were 8,979 cancer cases in the county. That's out of the around 280,000 residents in the county during that period.
When the new state-of-the-art cancer center opens in the spring of next year, cancer patients will have access to a variety of resources.
"You can go into this building, you can visit Navigators or attend classes, go to support groups, while also seeing your physicians in that building, getting your imaging in that building, having your radiation oncology or infusion services in that building, even getting surgery in that building," said Sue Anderson, the CEO of French Hospital.
"I'm hoping a center like this will help reduce people's barriers to care, alleviate their stress, and allow them to focus on what matters most: taking care of themselves and healing," said Galli.
Julie Neiggemann is the interim director of the Hearst Cancer Resource Center, which will be moving into the new center once it opens
She says that being in the same building with other resources will open new doors for them.
"I think it will be great for us as support staff, as nurse navigators or social workers, just the accessibility and proximity to the providers," Neiggemann said. "We'll be able to very easily communicate and ensure that patients are receiving seamless care."
Construction is scheduled to begin this spring.
