Prebys Cancer Center Opens Today at Scripps Mercy Hospital

Note to Patients: The following news is posted for archival purposes only. Scripps no longer has a formal partnership with MD Anderson Cancer Center. We currently provide comprehensive cancer care through Scripps Cancer Center.

The new center is equipped with leading-edge radiation therapy technology, including two linear accelerators that deliver external beam radiation treatments with exceptional accuracy. The technology allows doctors to shape the radiation beam so it tightly conforms to each tumor’s unique contours, while its motion management system enables the beam to follow tumors that move as a patient breathes during treatment. Both of these features help to spare normal tissues around the tumor from the damaging effects of radiation.

In addition to offering highly targeted conventional radiation treatments, the linear accelerators can deliver high-dose ablative radiation therapy, an ultraprecise approach that in some cases can be an alternative to surgery. Ablative radiation treatments can be delivered to a wide variety of tumor sites, including the brain, lung, liver and bone.

Prebys Cancer Center also houses a 20-chair infusion center, where chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy and other treatments will be administered. The infusion clinic is surrounded by three landscaped terraces, which can be enjoyed either from indoors through floor-to-ceiling windows, or from various outdoor seating areas.

The new facility also contains a physician clinic area with 20 patient exam rooms, two minor surgical procedure rooms and collaboration spaces for treatment planning conferences with patients and their multidisciplinary physician teams. Additionally, it includes a large multipurpose room for health education seminars and other community events, along with offices for physicians, care teams and support staff. A new 140-space parking garage adjoins the center. Prebys Cancer Center is the first new building to be completed as part of Scripps Mercy’s master redevelopment plan.

Prebys Cancer Center offers patients a wide range of support services, starting at the time of a patient’s diagnosis and continuing through completion of treatment and beyond. These include nurse navigation, social work, nutrition services, insurance benefits counseling, pharmacy education, wig and prosthetic fittings and support groups. Also available are services such as physical therapy, genetic counseling, pain management and integrative medicine.

Support services at the new center soon will be permanently consolidated at the nearby Woltman Family College Building, an historic structure at Scripps Mercy San Diego that is expected to open in January 2022, when restoration is completed.

In 2011, Conrad Prebys donated $45 million toward the Prebys Cardiovascular Institute on the campus of Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. He also made a $10 million donation in 2006 to support construction of the Conrad Prebys Emergency and Trauma Center at Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego.

“We are deeply grateful to Conrad Prebys for his leadership and altruism in supporting important health care improvements for the people of San Diego County,” said John Engle, Scripps corporate senior vice president and chief development officer. ”We hope others will follow Conrad’s example and make a philanthropic gift to support the new cancer center. Every donation makes a difference in our patients’ lives.”

Prebys Cancer Center is funded through a combination of philanthropy, borrowing and operating revenue. For more information on ways to support Prebys Cancer Center, visit www.scripps.org/SupportCancerCare.

Learn more about Scripps Health, a nonprofit integrated health system in San Diego, Calif.