UChicago Medicine invites community to provide input to help shape the South Side’s cancer center of the future

The University of Chicago Medicine is implementing a multipronged community engagement effort to raise awareness and gather input for its $633 million, 500,000-square-foot freestanding building dedicated to cancer care and research, which was announced in February 2022.

UChicago Medicine’s outreach starts with today’s launch of a Cancer Center Project Community Survey, which seeks the public’s input about the patient experience, amenities such as food and retail options, preferences for prevention services, and other features at the new cancer center.

The online survey, offered in English and Spanish, will be disseminated via social media, email campaigns and digital newsletters. To reach residents who don’t have easy access to technology, the survey will be coupled with information about cancer prevention and screening and shared at community fairs and festivals this summer.

The community outreach builds upon inputs from a panel of patients with cancer and will expand in the coming weeks to include meetings with members of the community and faith leaders, hosted by UChicago Medicine’s Community Advisory Council. Later this year, UChicago Medicine will produce a report of all the inputs received and the ways the cancer center plans to reflect what was heard from the community and patients.

Residents of the South Side carry a high cancer burden, with cancer death rates twice the national average and cancer being the second-leading cause of death. In addition, a majority of patients with cancer leave the community to seek care. As one of only two National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in Illinois and the only academic medical center on the South Side, UChicago Medicine is uniquely positioned to reimagine cancer care for the community and the city.

“In our effort to address these health inequities and design a human-centered experience for our cancer center, we want to include the voice of the communities we serve into the design of the facility,” said Brenda Battle, UChicago Medicine’s Senior Vice President for Community Health Transformation and its Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer. “We invite all members of the public to participate and provide their input in our survey.”

Benefits and features of the new cancer center will include:

• Increased access to cancer clinical trials and leading-edge technology
• A one-stop environment with all services under one roof
• 500 new construction jobs, of which 41% will go to a diverse workforce

To learn more about the cancer center, click here. For questions about the new cancer center or the survey please contact [email protected].