Cape Cod Hospital is seeing more cancer patients. This new tower will help treat them.

Editor's Note: This story was updated on Oct. 12 to correct the cost of the Cape Cod Hospital Tower project. The project cost $185 million.

HYANNIS — The last steel beam to top off the Peter and Pamela Barbey Patient Care Tower was put in place on Tuesday on the campus of Cape Cod Hospital.

It was a milestone in a $185 million project that will provide four floors for cancer, medical, surgical and cardiology care when it’s completed in early 2025. The topping-off traditionally celebrates the construction process and the project team's pride in the accomplishment.

A brand-new cancer center will take up the first two floors of the tower with a third floor dedicated to cardiology and a fourth floor to medical surgical space, according to Cape Cod Healthcare President and CEO Michael Lauf.

The original plan was for a $180 million six-story tower, but financial constraints forced a change in plans after the pandemic. The tower was designed and built with the input of contractors, architects, facilities and clinical teams, Lauf said. Teams visited more than seven different cancer centers during the process.

"We spent over a year designing with our staff, the Smith Group and Suffolk Construction,” Lauf said. “Nurses, managers, doctors, directors, facilities teams, architects, patients and on up — we all got together. This is reflective of all the things patients and our staff need to be successful in their treatment and delivery of that treatment.”

The new tower will help the hospital meet the increased demand for oncology services and provide pharmacy and laboratory space. Patient education and family support areas have been included in the design plans.

The number of oncology infusion bays will increase from 16 to 36 and the footprint for radiation therapy will double, according to Lisa Connors, marketing communications manager for Cape Cod Healthcare.

There will be 30 cardiology beds for patients who are having or who had heart-related procedures., Connors said. Thirty medical surgical beds will be for those recovering from interventional and surgical procedures. The hospital's total bed count is 259.

The new tower will have four critical care beds for acutely ill patients who require an intensive care setting, Lauf said. Each new patient room in the tower will offer single-bed occupancy. Future growth of the medical/surgical service has been anticipated with the tower design and construction, Lauf said.

The tower construction has brought with it the redevelopment of the hospital campus, according to Lauf. Those improvements include the expansion of the surgical suite within the current hospital footprint. There have been improvements made in infrastructure, with underground utility relocation.

The project has been lengthy because of logistical concerns and constraints around patient care and the demolition of campus buildings. All inpatient behavioral health beds had to be removed from the former Whitcomb Pavilion in order to demolish the old building. The Cape Cod Medical Center and a portion of the hospital had to be removed as well. The net new floor area of the hospital will be about 60,298 square feet, according to a report by the Cape Cod Commission.

Improvements in traffic circulation and parking will result, Lauf said. In a few weeks, he estimated an additional 40 parking spaces will open up. As the tower goes up, he anticipates more parking opportunities will open across the campus. Lauf said he expects the tower will be ready to receive and care for patients by early 2025.

“We’re proud to deliver these vital programs in cancer, cardiology, medicine and surgery to our community,” he said. “We’re honored to take care of people, and proud of the people at Cape Cod Hospital and Cape Cod Healthcare.”

The Barbeys donated $10 million from the Edwin Barbey Charitable Trust in October 2021 to the capital campaign. Peter, Pamela and their son, Matthew, direct donations from the trust, which is named after Peter's father. It was the largest donation in Cape Cod Hospital's history.

The hospital is applying for a Level III Trauma Center designation in the fall of 2024, according to Connors. Such an attestation means the hospital has the "ability to provide prompt assessment, resuscitation, surgery, intensive care and stabilization of injured patients and emergency operations," according to the American Trauma Society.

Denise Coffey writes about business and tourism. Contact her at dcoffey@capecodonline.com.

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: What's going inside the $137 million tower atop Cape Cod Hospital?