Torrance Memorial Medical Center Celebrates Donor Open House of The Donald & Priscilla Hunt Cancer Center
Ribbon-cutting ceremony signifies the opening of the Patient-Centered Environment that Consolidates Cancer Treatment Services into One Location
TORRANCE, CA, November 6, 2019 – On Wednesday evening, nearly 200 invited guests celebrated with docent-led tours of the Donald and Priscilla Hunt Cancer Center that will officially open to its first patients on December 16. The event celebrated and acknowledged the generous donations from the Donald and Priscilla Hunt family, Jake and Betty Belin, David and Barbara Bentley and Francesca and Doug Deaver.
The formal program closed with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting led by Priscilla Hunt in honor of her family’s generous donation of $34M to make the Center possible.
President and CEO of Torrance Memorial, Craig Leach, began the ceremony with welcoming remarks and stated the Donald and Priscilla Hunt Cancer Center took only 16 months to build, was completed on time and on budget. He further acknowledged the magnitude and efforts of many to bring this dream of a consolidated cancer care center into reality for the South Bay community. Dr. Hugo Hool, chairman of Torrance Memorial’s oncology committee and director of Hunt Cancer Center said, “We couldn’t be more excited for the South Bay and its residents when we think about what this means to our patients and our community.” Torrance Memorial’s medical oncologist Dr. David Chan also spoke by acknowledging and thanking the donors for their generous contributions and philanthropic efforts. He also highlighted the benefits the Donald and Priscilla Hunter Cancer Center will bring to the community.
Dr. Dan Theodorescu from Cedars-Sinai spoke on how the cross-disciplinary collaboration and affiliation between the two hospitals will expand and strengthen clinical trials across all cancer types. ESPN Sports reporter Shelly Smith was a guest speaker who joked, “This is the first time I’ve spoken to my cancer care team with all my clothes on.” She also shared her survivor story and personal journey with cancer and expressed her gratitude for the exceptional care she received.
The highlight of the evening program was the closing ceremonial ribbon-cutting and heartfelt remarks from Priscilla Hunt. “I often use the expression ‘health is wealth,’” Priscilla Hunt said. “Thanks to care received at Torrance Memorial, our long-time receptionist Angela at Hunt Enterprises survived stage-four cancer and is back at work today. My sister’s life was extended long enough to see her first grandchild born. Because I have the means to give, I am doing so to help others have more time with the people they care about.”
The Hunt Cancer Center is a 38,000 square-foot facility designed to consolidate and strengthen cancer care in the South Bay. The Center is named after the late Donald Hunt, founder of South Bay-based Hunt Enterprises, and his wife Priscilla. Hunt Cancer Center patients will benefit from Torrance Memorial’s recent affiliation with Cedars-Sinai through access to new and innovative clinical trials and a team of subspecialists, who treat more than 60 types of cancer, from common to rare to complex.
The Center, designed by c|a ARCHITECTS of Long Beach, includes a private underground parking garage designed to provide oncology patients direct access to the lobby to help preserve their privacy during visits. The interior of the cancer center is designed to provide a hopeful environment, integrating natural light with calming shades of blues and greens associated with healing and reflective of its proximity to the ocean.
The Hunt Cancer Center creates a patient-centered environment that consolidates cancer treatment services to one location including its nurse navigators, cancer education, genetic counseling services, clinical research trials, chemo and infusion therapies. The clinic spaces are designed with spacious exam rooms that allow practitioners, patients and multiple family members an interactive environment for the discussion and diagnosis of their care.
The Center offers a 32-bay infusion center located on the second floor surrounded by windows to allow natural light during treatment. Each patient will have their own generously-sized bay with access to a multimedia info-tainment system and room for a supportive guest as desired during treatment. The Center’s location adjacent to the Polak Imaging Pavilion will grant added convenience for patients in need of diagnostic imaging.
The Center is the new home of the highly-acclaimed Torrance Memorial Physician Network - Cancer Care, which has served South Bay cancer patients and their families for more than 50 years. Torrance Memorial Physician Network offers a team of more than 70 highly-trained personnel and practitioners, ranging from physicians active in cancer research to chemotherapy-certified nurses to fully-licensed medical assistants to laboratory technologists.
Hunt Cancer Center patients will continue to benefit from the comprehensive services offered through Torrance Memorial’s Hunt Cancer Institute. These range from cutting-edge diagnostic tools, such as 3D mammography, to a multidisciplinary tumor board which closely reviews and discusses tumor images and complex oncology cases with a team approach to treatment. It also offers the most advanced tools available, such as the TrueBeam® Radiotherapy System known for delivering radiation with extraordinarily high precision to spare healthy tissue, and the da Vinci Xi ® Surgical System, also called the da Vinci robot, which takes the least invasive surgical approach available.
The Hunt family, whose real estate company portfolio includes more than 4,000 residential units, industrial buildings, shopping centers among other assets, has pledged $34 million to Torrance Memorial—the second largest family gift in the more than 90-year history of the medical center.
To learn more about the Hunt Cancer Institute, visit: www.torrancememorial.org or call 310-325-9110.
