Huntsman Cancer Institute has opened its newest expansion: an eight-story center with more space to develop new cancer treatments and provide care for patients.
The Kathryn F. Kirk Center, which opened Monday, includes 48 inpatient rooms, four new operating rooms, a floor for treating breast and gynecologic cancers, areas to perform treatments for blood and marrow transplant patients and more screening space and access to “innovative clinical trials,” according to a news release.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) The opening of the Huntsman Cancer Institute’s Kathryn F. Kirk Center for Comprehensive Cancer Care and Women’s Cancers in Salt Lake City, Monday, May 8, 2023.
Its first outpatient visit is scheduled for June 5, the release states. Inpatient care will begin June 21.
Mary Beckerle, Huntsman Cancer Institute CEO, said in a statement that the expansion means patients will now have access to “advanced medical technology, superior cancer care, clinical trials, and research.”
Construction for this expansion also added more than 1,900 square feet at the cancer institute’s Wellness & Integrative Health Center, making more room for massage therapy, nutrition education and strength and recovery programs, the release states.
“Many generous donors came together to make this latest expansion of Huntsman Cancer Institute possible,” Huntsman Cancer Foundation chairman and CEO Peter Huntsman said in a statement. “The Kathryn F. Kirk Center assures that the people of Utah and surrounding areas have access to the world’s best cancer research and patient care delivered by highly trained experts in all types of cancer.”
The center, which was estimated to cost $148 million, was named by the lead donors, Spencer and Kristen Kirk, in honor of Spencer Kirk’s mother, who died of cancer.
“She spent her life in service to her family and her community. That spirit guides our family, and we are honored to help further the mission of Huntsman Cancer Institute,” Spencer Kirk said in a statement.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Family photos of Kathryn F. Kirk are displayed at the Huntsman Cancer Institute’s new Kathryn F. Kirk Center for Comprehensive Cancer Care and Women’s Cancers in Salt Lake City, Monday, May 8, 2023.
The cancer institute raised more $128 million in donations to build this expansion, which was estimated to cost $148 million, according to the news release. The center is located at the north end of the cancer institute, and connects via a sky bridge to the existing facility.
The late Jon Huntsman Sr., a billionaire chemical industrialist and philanthropist, established the Huntsman Cancer Foundation with his family in 1995 with the goal of eradicating cancer. Huntsman was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1991, and his mother and father both died of cancer.
The Jon M. Huntsman Research Center, the first phase of the institute, was dedicated in 1999. The cancer hospital opened in 2004 and was expanded in 2011. The Primary Children’s and Families’ Cancer Research Center opened in 2017.
Editor’s note • Paul Huntsman, chair of the nonprofit Salt Lake Tribune’s board of directors, is a son of the late Jon Huntsman Sr., who founded the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
