Lexington-based University of Kentucky got the green light to buy land for a proposed $6.9 million outpatient cancer treatment center and advanced ambulatory complex, the university said Dec. 14.
The project will feature about 260,000 square feet for cancer services and may include several buildings.
The proposed complex will allow for the expansion of patient care services for the Lexington-based UK Markey Cancer Center, the only National Cancer Institute-designated center in Kentucky. The center's outpatient clinic visits have increased by 57 percent since 2013, and cancer-related research funding has increased by 109 percent since 2012, according to the university.
The complex has space for other advanced ambulatory clinics and outpatient operating rooms, procedures rooms, diagnostics and imaging services and pharmacy and lab services.
"Kentucky continues to rank first in the nation for cancer rates and our expansion of outpatient services at UK Markey Cancer Center as well as other ambulatory services, is critical to our mission to take care of the health care needs of Kentuckians," said Mark Newman, MD, UK executive vice president for health affairs.