Innovative Cancer Center Combines All Cancer Services in a Single Building

The Coletta Building is named for Sister Mary Coletta Massoth. It was her final wish to open a cancer center on the Mercy OKC Campus, a vision she never got to see come to fruition as she succumbed to colon cancer in 1983 at the age of 63. The facility honors her vision, tenacity and commitment to bringing healthcare to all.

Collaborating with Cancer Survivors

In that spirit of inclusion, the project team gathered feedback from hundreds of cancer survivors, cancer patients and family members who lost loved ones to cancer. Our goal was to best meet the needs of cancer patients, so we listened to what worked, what didn’t, what elements they wish they had access to and where they thought the new facility should be located.

The final design features two separate entries for cancer and breast services with easy access to the main hospital. This way, patients with weakened immune systems are protected while they complete treatments and take advantage of the myriad of services offered under this one roof.

Focused Services Inspired by Caring

There are several of those services that are unique to this facility. The Coletta Building features an infusion area with options. Treatment settings can range from private rooms to social “living room” spaces to an outdoor terrace. These options place patient comfort and choice as a top priority.

The Coletta Building also has a Boutique offering massage therapy services and access to certified garment fitters for lymphedema sleeves and other compression garments and wraps. The Boutique also houses a specialty pharmacy for over-the-counter and prescription medications as well as surgical and radiation dressing supplies and skin or scar creams.

Other services include on-site genetic counseling and cancer risk assessments, gourmet food services from an on-site café, creative therapies like music and art, an in-house demonstration kitchen where cancer dieticians offer weekly and private consultations and a series of classes designed to transition survivors back into life after finishing treatment.

For the large part, patients often feel that cancer facilities are mazes they have to find their way through when they feel their absolute worst. It can add a great deal of unnecessary anxiety to an already stressful situation. If there is any time in someone’s life when they need the process to be simple, the people to be compassionate and the place to be as calming as possible, it’s when they seek cancer care.”

– Jim Gebhart, President of Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City