Abstract

As cancer care is constantly evolving and innovating, a “master framework” rather than a “masterplan” was crafted as the design and planning approach. This framework allows MD Anderson to guide short-term (ten-year) investments with confidence that these facilities will create a flexible and dynamic platform for the changing nature of cancer research and care. The framework allows MD Anderson’s facilities to blend business strategy, innovations in care delivery, and translation of research discoveries into a seamlessly woven synergistic campus tapestry designed for the next 50 years.

The session will discuss how the framework meets the organisation’s three main goals:

• Reach: Expanding MD Anderson’s footprint not only within the Texas Medical Campus, but throughout Houston and beyond.
• Breakthroughs: Invest and become leaders in first-class basic, translational and clinical research.
• Value: Create more streamlined operations and become a destination for early-stage cancer patients, retaining them from diagnosis to survivorship.

MD Anderson’s main location is on the Texas Medical Center (TMC). The challenge was to redefine care, and also double the size of the clinical, research and education footprints on this complex campus. This session will highlight how the master framework allows MD Anderson to become an all-encompassing research and care network within the TMC campus, as well as discuss strategies of shifting patient volume to a robust community network. We will discuss how the network provides a convenience for patients and cutting-edge treatments in a non-hospital setting. The session will demonstrate how the main campus will be zoned to accommodate: discovery, research and education; academia, medicine, science and commerce; a new model of vertical patient care; and quaternary horizontal patient care

One of the main organisational goals is to increase the number of patients seen, particularly early-stage cancer patients. Much of the strategy is to provide care for local patients closer to where they live by sending patients to regional hubs, but we will show how MD Anderson is reframing ambulatory care by creating an outpatient destination on its main campus. We will explore how this ambulatory building will become a resource for cancer patients seeking the most advanced treatments in a new 2.5m sq ft environment. This complex will create “one-stop care”, tailored to the needs of its patients, with vastly different services and amenities than the main inpatient hospital.

Additionally, we will explore how the master framework moves the institution away from siloed research and towards team science. The institution will bring researchers and support staff together to solve specific problems, and dedicate space and resources accordingly based on impact and funding. Consolidating the research enterprise on the Texas Medical Campus will fuel better collaboration and transform it into a hub of innovation.