Prisma Health Children's Hospital begins $6 million capital campaign for new cancer unit
Prisma Health Children's Hopsital-Upsate launched an Inspire Courage Fundraising Campaign to raise $6 million for a planned, new pediatric cancer and blood disorder unit.
“I’m thrilled that we can take this next leap forward by creating a space that is literally custom-built for and by families,” Dr. Aniket Saha, the unit’s medical director, said Thursday. “This specially-designed space will better blend family care with clinical care, helping reduce stress and offer a positive healing environment that nourishes the mind, body and soul."
Prisma Health's Children Hospital-Upstate will house the new unit, located at 701 Grove Road in the Prisma Health Greenville Memorial Hospital complex.
The new 7,580-square-foot unit is currently slated to begin construction in early 2024 and will take approximately two years to complete, according to Prisma Health. Suggestions from former patients and families were incorporated into the design.
The fundraising campaign comes during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. In the United States, 9,910 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed among children from birth to 14 years, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Prisma Health Children’s Hospital in Upstate sees an average of 50 to 75 new cases of children with cancer every year, Saha said.
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The first $1 million for the new center has already been donated by Hogs for the Cause, a non-profit barbecue competition and festival based in New Orleans. The CEO, Becker Hall, graduated from the University of South Carolina.
In honor of the donation, the new unit will be named Prisma Health Children's Hospital-Upstate Hogs for the Cause Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Unit. Two South Carolina restaurants participate in the festival, including Home Team BBQ, with restaurants in Greenville, Charleston, and Columbia, and Swig & Swine in the Lowcountry.
"Today, we fulfill a dream that continues to grow greater than we could have imagined," Hall said. "This state-of-the-art pediatric oncology and hematology unit will have a massive impact for families here and in neighboring states. We are extremely proud to partner with Prisma Health and with the barbecue restaurants here helping support this phenomenal project."
The pediatric unit will care for children with all types of cancers, along with bleeding disorders and sickle cell disease.
It will include:
Nine inpatient rooms
Day-stay rooms with two infusion chairs for children with day-long transfusion treatments
Special two-room suite for families in end-of-life situations
In-room desks for parents
A respite space
Expanded playroom
Savannah Moss covers Greenville County politics & growth and development. Reach her at smoss@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter/X @Savmoss
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Prisma Health Children's Hospital building new pediatric cancer unit
