Translational Environment Set to Transform Cancer Care in Florida 

Designed to inspire strength, hope and courage, the new Moffitt McKinley Hospital will expand the client’s capacity for inpatient hospital care and modernize its ability to treat solid tumour cancers through a significant investment in image-guided surgical oncology. The new facility will bring a collaborative and translational environment to campus where clinicians and researchers can more easily work together to accelerate discovery in cancer treatment.  

To realize the client’s goal of cultivating a patient-centred experience, the design team led an Immersive Design Event with more than 170 stakeholders — physicians, nurses, lab personnel, pharmacy staff, leadership, administrators, patients and families — to understand their individual and collective needs. By bringing disparate parties together, we gained consensus on the planning direction for gross building area, departmental adjacencies, patient room layout, surgical and procedure rooms, perioperative room makeup and future expansion.   

The result? A 10-story, 128-bed inpatient surgical facility with 19 operating rooms and a dedicated intraoperative MRI suite designed with flexibility and space to innovate, an expandable central energy plant, conditioned bridge connection to the existing outpatient centre, and a nearly 500-space parking garage.  

A New Experience for Cancer Care Facilities 

The building is designed to evoke instant feelings of calm and serenity for patients, visitors, staff and caregivers as they enter the spa-like hospital environment. Wayfinding inspired by Florida’s rich, dense vegetation will intuitively guide visitors on their journey to find a quiet space to reflect in the spiritual retreat, a bite to eat in the café or a treat for a loved one in the gift shop.  

The curved pedestrian bridge will create a dramatic new gateway to campus and offers a safe, convenient connection to the existing outpatient centre for clinicians, researchers and patients alike.   

The new inpatient surgical hospital is expected to increase the number of patients seen and reduce wait times, bringing the campus to a truly translational place that helps Moffitt Cancer Center achieve its mission of contributing to the prevention and cure of cancer.