Ground officially was broken today on The University of Arizona Cancer Center at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center/Dignity Health outpatient facility in downtown Phoenix.

Located on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus at 625 N. Sixth St., on the northwest corner of Fillmore and Seventh streets, the center is expected to be open in 2015. The University is leasing the land from the City of Phoenix.

The 220,000-square-foot, five-story, $100 million facility will offer comprehensive cancer services, including infusion, radiation oncology, diagnostic imaging, endoscopic/interventional radiology, a women’s center, specialized cancer clinics, patient wellness and support services, a prevention/executive health clinic, clinical lab space and other related support spaces.

Under an affiliation agreement approved by the Arizona Board of Regents and Dignity Health Arizona, St. Joseph’s, which is a part of Dignity Health, will operate inpatient clinical cancer services at its main hospital campus and outpatient services at the new downtown facility. Until the new facility opens the hospital will continue to provide outpatient services.

"Today the University of Arizona Cancer Center begins to fulfill the promise to serve the entire state of Arizona made to former State House Speaker Burton Barr in 1982 when the Arizona Legislature approved our state funding, and to the National Cancer Institute in 2009 when it approved our Cancer Center Support Grant for the seventh time," said Dr. David S. Alberts, UACC director.

"We believe this facility and the extraordinary combined medical talents from St. Joseph's and UA Cancer Center will allow us to reach new heights in providing extraordinary cancer care," said Linda Hunt, president and chief executive officer, Dignity Health Arizona.

"This groundbreaking reflects the University of Arizona's commitment to bettering the lives of all Arizonans," saidUA President Ann Weaver Hart. "We are most grateful to our partners and the City of Phoenix for helping to achieve this milestone. The potent combination of leading-edge research and exemplary patient care means that today is a new day for cancer patients in Arizona."

"The University of Arizona Cancer Center and the College of Medicine, both located on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus, officially will make downtown Phoenix a world-class center for medical innovation and care," Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said. "Not only will the UACC be an economic engine for our city and state, contributing to our downtown urban core, but we'll also be on the forefront of cancer care and finding the cure. Thank you to our partners at UA and St. Joseph's for working with the City of Phoenix as we continue to work together toward a strong future."

The UA Cancer Center is one of just 41 comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health. It is the only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center headquartered in Arizona and serving the entire state through a network of affiliated health-care organizations and community physicians.

Follow the project’s construction progress online.

The construction is the latest project for the Phoenix Biomedical Campus, which is anchored by the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix and includes the Translational Genomics Research Institute. The university colleges of public health, pharmacy and nursing all have activities on the downtown Phoenix along with programs from Northern Arizona University’s College of Health and Human Services.