Medical Center Plans $86 Million Cancer Center | News

The Medical Center of Central Georgia hopes it can open a new $86 million building, including a cancer center, in downtown Macon sometime in 2014.

Hospital president Don Faulk says they recently asked State Department of Community Health for approval for a new seven-story building at 1st and Hemlock Street.  That's across from their Luce Heart Center.

He said there would be a new Center for Specialty Medicines -- essentially, a cancer outpatient center -- and other offices.

Like the nearby heart center, Faulk says, the cancer unit would let them focus patient services into one place.

He says they hope the state health department will rule on their request before the end of this year.  If that happens, he said, the new center could be operating sometime in 2014.

Meanwhile, the Houston Medical Center has also asked the state to approve an expansion and renovation of its surgical services area. Spokeswoman Priscilla Kennedy could not confirm any further details, but the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported that their filing estimated the cost at $41.8 million.