New Cancer Center Breaks Ground in South County

A new cancer center at Interstate 55 and Butler Hill Road started construction last week for completion in early 2013.

The Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center will be an outpatient cancer center for residents in South County and Jefferson County.

At 37,000 square feet and a $27.5 million cost, the center will include consultations, chemotherapy, radiation and clinical trials.

“We are looking forward to providing more convenient care to our many patients in the South County area,” said Timothy Eberlein, the director of the Siteman Cancer Center in a Barnes-Jewish Hospital release. “As the largest provider of cancer care in the region, we want patients from South County to be able to see their physicians and receive treatment closer to their homes and families.” 

Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine named Dr. Bruce J. Roth the director of medical oncology and Dr. Parag J. Parikh the director of radiation oncology for the center. 

The new South County location will be the fourth Siteman Cancer Center facility in St. Louis. The primary facility is adjacent to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in the Central West End and the other two locations are in Creve Coeur and St. Charles County.

Siteman Cancer Center is owned and operated by Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Barnes-Jewish Hospital is a member of BJC HealthCare. 

The Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee , after some resistance from , which is located near the proposed site.

"The satellite center would take patients from St. Anthony's Cancer Center," wrote Brian Pence, director of the St. Anthony's Cancer Care Center, in an Oct. 19 2010 letter to Tim Piper, director of Missouri's Certificate of Need Program. "The proposed linear accelerator is in very close proximity to our two linear accelerators and would only dissipate existing previous resources."

A linear accelerator is the device used in destroying cancer cells in the body. All doctors working at the facility will be Washington University physicians.