NEW CENTER OF CARE

Christus marks new chapter for residents in Santa Fe who are being treated for cancer

Only in Santa Fe would a cancer center feature an art walk with nearly 200 New Mexico-inspired works. But that’s what awaits patients inside the new Christus St. Vincent Regional Cancer Center, in addition to the latest in cancer-fighting technology and experts specializing in various types of the disease.

The $80 million, 80,000-square-foot facility — connected by foot bridge to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center — officially opened its doors with a celebration Thursday, though patients started seeing providers in the new space earlier this month.

Lillian Montoya, president and CEO of Christus St. Vincent, framed the center’s unveiling as a new chapter of cancer care not just for Santa Fe, but for all of Northern New Mexico.

“In an environment where more people are having to travel further to get care that they should be able to get close to home, we want people who get here to get that care, to know that we see them. We hear them. We know they matter,” Montoya said.

The facility’s opening comes as people in New Mexico are living longer in general and patients are living longer with cancer, necessitating ongoing care and bringing about more complex and robust treatment options, said Genevieve Tarnow, Christus St. Vincent’s executive director of oncology services.

“Cancer care is really the No. 1 specialty with new treatments coming out, new technology, and we knew our old building just was not big enough. It wouldn’t give us the future growth that we needed to expand,” Tarnow said in an interview.

Montoya estimated Christus St. Vincent’s cancer program receives about 35,000 visits each year. As options for care shrink or disappear in many rural New Mexico communities, the Santa Fe hospital already serves as a regional hub, with patients making hourslong trips for care, Tarnow said.

Trying to access care is stressful enough; the new center is designed not to add to that stress.

The facility boasts a chemotherapy suite with more than 20 infusion spaces and double the per-patient square footage of Christus St. Vincent’s previous space. Massive windows let in plenty of natural light, with a few treatment spaces available outdoors, too.

The cancer center is also equipped with high-tech tools to aid in patients’ recovery, including two linear accelerators for radiation therapy and advanced PET and CT imaging technology to increase precision in diagnosis and expand treatment to more types of tumors while reducing complications.

The center will be home to six dedicated medical oncologists and four advanced practice clinicians plus teams specializing in breast, lung and gastrointestinal cancer care, Dr. Andrea Teague, Christus St. Vincent’s vice president of cancer services, said Thursday.

And there’s still space to meet the non-medical needs of patients and their families, like quiet spaces for remote work and a centralized kitchen for cooking demonstrations and nutrition counseling.

On top of it all, the inside of the facility is just plain pretty. Its enormous windows, decorative tiles and local artwork serve a purpose, too, Montoya said.

“We want to create those joyful distraction moments, so that when you see the art and you greet our amazing people, you’re thinking about being in that moment with them,” she said.

State Rep. Tara Lujan, a Santa Fe Democrat whose district includes Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, called the new cancer center “critical.”

“It couldn’t come at a more needed time,” she said. Lujan said she hopes to work toward transportation solutions to improve access to the center for New Mexicans who live hours away.

“We have to figure that piece out as a community hospital,” Lujan said. “We have to all work together to do that.”

Teague said the regional cancer center represents a major accomplishment, but the work to expand care locally isn’t over yet.

“It’s a pivotal moment and the next step forward in our ongoing journey,” Teague said. “As we reach to 2030 and beyond, our goal is to continue to integrate more services and to serve more people of New Mexico.”