SAN DIEGO — A $59 million cancer center to be built at Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego in Hillcrest will be named for the late philanthropist Conrad Prebys, Scripps Health announced Friday.
The 40,000-square-foot, four-story Presbys Cancer Center will serve patients from the central and southern areas of the county. It will be the second dedicated cancer center built as part of Scripps Health's partnership with the University of Texas' MD Anderson Cancer Center; the other is located in Torrey Pines.
Prebys donated $20 million to Scripps Health for the outpatient facility in 2016, the year he died, and also funded a $5 million grant for an endowed medical director position within the Scripps MD Anderson Cancer Center partnership.
Through his many years of generous support, Conrad Prebys has significantly improved the quality of health care for our community,'' Scripps Health President and CEO Chris Van Gorder said at a groundbreaking ceremony.
"Prebys Cancer Center will continue Conrad's legacy by providing access to exceptional cancer care to residents in our central and southern regions of San Diego County."
The facility will feature cutting-edge radiation therapy technology, a 20-chair infusion center for treatments like chemotherapy, spaces for conferences and patient consultations and offices for physicians. A 140-space parking garage adjacent to the facility is expected to be completed by 2022.
The new cancer center will be located on Fifth Avenue at the Hillcrest campus. Scripps Health expects the facility to open in early 2022.
