Butler Patient Signs Final Beam For New Local Cancer Center

Officials say construction on a new multi-million-dollar cancer center in Butler is on target.

The final steel beam completing the structural framework of the Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute-Butler was put in place on Wednesday. The center is under construction in the Pullman Business Park, off Hansen Avenue.

Dr. David Parda says the center will allow patients in Butler to have access to state-of-the-art medical care without having to travel to Pittsburgh.

“Literally 99 percent of everything that we can do at Allegheny General Hospital and West Penn Hospital will be able to be done right here at this facility,” Parda said Wednesday. “For that other 1 percent we will be very selective and efficient about navigating patients out of their communities to AGH, West Penn or Johns Hopkins facilities.”

Patients will be able to receive radiation and medical oncology, infusion therapy and clinical trials. The West Penn Allegheny Oncology Network at Benbrook Medical Center will be moved into the new building when it opens early next year.

It will employ 40 people.

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Butler resident Lisa Corso was invited to sign the final beam before it was put into the new Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute-Butler facility on Wednesday.

Corso has been battling cancer for four years. She says she has rarely had to travel to Pittsburgh for treatment.

“It has made a big difference for me (to get treated locally),” Corso said. “I’ve kept my job the whole time since I’ve been diagnosed.”

Corso’s doctor, medical oncologist Dr. Bushra Haq, is currently treating Corso at Benbrook. She says having local access to care makes a difference.

“We see a lot of elderly patients, or even younger patients who are working like Lisa, and it makes a huge difference to have care close to home and to their families,” Dr. Haq said. “It’s so disruptive to travel for treatment.”

Aside from the Butler facility, three others AGH community cancer centers are under construction in Beaver and Erie counties, and Monroeville.

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AHN Cancer Institute – Butler is one component of a $225 million commitment by AHN and Highmark Health to expand access to leading edge cancer care in western PA.

Located in the Pullman Business Park, the location was chosen for its central Butler County location and easy access, according to the Allegheny Health Network. Designed to support a patient-centered care model, the 34,000 square foot, two-story facility will provide a wide array of clinical and support services, including state-of-the-art radiation oncology capabilities, medical oncology and infusion therapy, nutritional counseling, social services and access to clinical trials. The center will use natural light and soft colors to create a calming atmosphere for patients and their families, with quiet exam rooms and comfortable waiting areas. The center will employ approximately 40 people.

AHN Cancer Institute – Butler is one of four AHN comprehensive community cancer centers currently under construction throughout the region. The Network is also building a new academic cancer center at Allegheny General Hospital that will serve as the hub of the organization’s cancer research and complex cancer treatment programs, as well as its collaboration with the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins.

AHN’s expanded partnership with Johns Hopkins gives the region’s residents additional access to one of the world’s foremost cancer treatment and research institutions, one that shares AHN’s commitment to value-based, patient-centered care that improves outcomes and reduces costs. AHN is now part of the Johns Hopkins Clinical Trial Network, significantly increasing the number of cancer clinical trials available locally to patients.

Below: Dr. David Parda, chair, AHN Cancer Institute-Butler, joins Butler resident Lisa Corso and medical oncologist Dr. Bushra Haq, in signing the final beam of the new cancer center under construction in the Pullman Business Park.