Irvine Hospital Unveils First Look at $1.5 Billion New Cancer Center

City of Hope Lennar Foundation Cancer Center in Irvine, Calif., on March 28, 2023. (Carol Cassis/The Epoch Times)

IRVINE, Calif.—City of Hope Hospital unveiled March 28 replicas of rooms and other plans for its new hospital facility set to open in late 2025.

The new construction will be for general medical needs and will connect to the hospital’s Lennar Cancer Center, which opened last year and is the only specialty hospital soley focused on treating and curing cancer in Orange County.

During the unveiling, patients, physicians, staff, and the public completed a walk-through of rooms and cardboard renditions of new facilities and provided feedback to hospital officials, to allow them time to fine-tune designs.

The new hospital's rendition photo. (Courtesy of City of Hope Lennar Foundation Cancer Center)

According to hospital officials, the renovated spaces are said to be more spacious and more comfortable for patients including having more light from enlarged windows and natural wood floors. Additionally, they said, waiting rooms have been redesigned with more comfort in mind and operating rooms are larger as well.

According to project officials, the hospital has invested over $1.5 billion—in part from donations—into the entire hospital campus, including the recently opened cancer center.

The City of Hope physician-in-chief Dr. Edward Kim said the importance of the new hospital construction is that one in three U.S. adults will develop cancer in their lifetime.

Hospital officials also said they estimate that the cancer rate will increase in Orange County by nearly 20 percent by 2030.

Dr. Kim, the head of the City of Hope Lennar Foundation Cancer Center, speaking at the new facility walk-through in Irvine, Calif., on March 28, 2023. (Carol Cassis/The Epoch Times)

“It’s so important that we have this facility here in our county,” Kim said. It will “save [Orange County cancer patients] from having to travel far to receive specialized care.”

Project officials say the new six-story hospital will have 73 beds and span over 120,000 square feet, the equivalent of over two football fields.

According to Kim, the hospital will incorporate some Feng Shui design elements—prominent in east Asian design and architecture—to accommodate the county’s growing Asian population.

One example, Kim said, is not having patient treatment rooms or facilities on the hospital’s fourth floor since the number contains negative connotations in many east Asian cultures.

City of Hope, is one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the country, employing over 600 physicians and 1,000 researchers.