Mass General Brigham Cancer Investment Focuses on Brigham Campuses, New Technology, and Workforce Support

Today, Anne Klibanski, MD, president and CEO of Mass General Brigham, announced plans to invest $400 million over the next four years on key priorities to advance Mass General Brigham Cancer. The areas of investment are:

Expanded Footprint at the Brigham: This will provide state-of-the art outpatient clinical, infusion and office space and for Mass General Brigham Cancer at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. Plans include extensive renovations to three floors of the Brigham’s Hale Building for Transformative Medicine for oncology services and one floor of Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital.

Medical Oncology: We will recruit and retain the brightest physicians in medical oncology, who will provide crucial expertise as part of our integrated model of care. David Ryan, MD, physician-in-chief, Mass General Brigham Cancer, will continue to lead our medical oncology faculty and is driving recruitment efforts.

Digital Pathology: Our outstanding systemwide diagnostic services are a crucial part of our integrated approach to cancer care, and we will make investments to enable the adoption of a digital pathology platform to provide our experts with the latest technology.

Technology Upgrades: To allow our people to utilize the same world-class technology throughout our system, we will invest in software upgrades and harmonization, in areas like radiation oncology and patient access.

Enhanced Staffing: To fully support Mass General Brigham Cancer, we will invest in key staff roles.

Patient Navigation: Our cancer strategy prioritizes rapid intake and seamless access across our integrated system of care. We will invest in patient navigation resources and support to allow patients to move seamlessly into and throughout our system when they need cancer care, fully harmonized with the comprehensive care we offer across all medical and surgical specialties.

Additional Space Opportunities: In addition to the space provided at the Hale Building, we will identify cell pharmacy, infusion, apheresis, clinical, office and research space for our teams that are spread across the Longwood area and currently housed mainly at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

For more than a year, our expert teams have been developing and implementing a single vision and strategy for Mass General Brigham Cancer. Our strategy is focused on expanding our clinical and academic resources by investing in our clinicians, researchers and staff who will make our vision a reality.

To enable this growth, we must build significant capacity for present and future cancer faculty, teams and technology throughout our system and with existing and new partners. This will enable expanded access to high-quality care for communities throughout our region.

"In the last year, we have made significant progress toward our vision for Mass General Brigham Cancer,” said O’Neil Britton, MD, chief integration officer for Mass General Brigham. “The investments announced today arose from our strategic planning process and enable us to take deliberate steps to execute on our priorities.”

“This space enhances our capabilities across the Brigham campuses and provides world-class support for our clinicians, researchers, trainees and staff,” said David F. M. Brown, MD, president of academic medical centers, Mass General Brigham. 

The combined approach to our Brigham and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) campuses, and across our system, enables Mass General Brigham Cancer to be fully operational using our own space and resources, before the conclusion of the current agreement with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 2028.  

The Hale Building, which opened in 2016, is one of the most technologically advanced patient care and research facilities in the country, seamlessly integrating clinical care with cutting edge research. Creating this cancer capability within the Hale Building will facilitate collaboration across expert teams (such as specialists in our Neuroscience Institute who are co-located in the Hale Building).

In the coming months, departments currently occupying space in the Hale Building will identify and plan for new space solutions. In keeping with our mission, we prioritize patient space and ensure that office space is optimized for highest and best use. The transition will be tightly aligned with the unwinding of the Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center agreement, with a focus on ensuring continuity of patient care.

These plans complement the new Herb Chambers Tower at the Phillip and Susan Ragon Building on the MGH campus, which is heavily focused on cancer care, along with plans underway to add new exam room and infusion capacity at MGH-Waltham. 

“Our goal is to immediately begin to execute on our cancer strategy and provide space for both our existing and new cancer teams to work, perform research and care for patients,” said Kevin Giordano, MBA, senior vice president of operations for Mass General Brigham, who oversees the operations of the MGB Cancer Institute.  

“Bringing the unmatched resources of our two great academic medical centers and our entire system together, we are building a brighter future for cancer care at Mass General Brigham,” Klibanski said in today’s announcement. “Together, we truly are one against cancer.”