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.

The Arizona Board of Regents on Feb. 7 passed a resolution in support of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's fiscal year 2014 budget request, which calls for $58.6 million in new money for the state's public university enterprise.

Brewer outlined her request to board members during the two-day board meeting on the Arizona State University campus.

"The board applauds the governor’s budget recommendations and its investment in our universities, and we thank the governor for her commitment to higher education," said ABOR Chairman Rick Myers. "The board has directed the university system presidents to support and advocate on behalf of the governor’s budget recommendations for the universities and her Medicaid expansion plan to business leaders, the state Legislature and to the public."

The governor's request includes $8 million for further development of the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix. This investment is important as Arizona continues to face a troubling shortage of doctors and medical professionals.

The request also calls for $15.4 million in performance-based funding to reward progress in areas such as degrees awarded and gains in external research. Moving to a performance-based model is a priority for the regents as the universities strive to meet goals intended to support and stimulate Arizona's economy.

Additionally, a proposed allocation of $19.9 million for soft capital would be key to providing advanced equipment and technology to meet academic and infrastructure needs.

Also at the meeting, the regents approved funding for three research projects from the Regents Innovation Fund through fiscal year 2013-14. Three out of 13 proposed projects were selected for funding, for a total of $1.1 million.

They include:

• Researchers will identify ways to improve profitability of algae farming, investigate a variety of non-potable water sources and waste streams, and identify target products from algae that will flourish in the waste water streams. The project will support efforts to designate algal culture as agriculture in Arizona, increase commercialization of the product, and promote a sustainable strategy for the reuse of Arizona's waste resources. The regents have allocated $200,000 for this project.
• The second project will support the transition to informatics-intensive research for Arizona's nationally ranked environmental research programs. It will move the Arizona higher education enterprise into a national leadership position in the critical emerging area of environmental information. Research and development will focus on the environmental sciences relating to creation, collection, storage, processing, modeling, interpretation, display and dissemnation of data and information. The regents have allocated $450,000 for this project.
• A third project will build upon the pilot involving SciVal Experts. It will expand the effort in building digital research infrastructure capabilities that will enhance the research functions of Arizona's three universities. The project aims to increase researchers' ability to form creative and dynamic collaborative teams across disciplines and locations, improve their access to funding opportunities, and provide access to a data management infrastructure. The allocation for this project is $450,000.

Also at the meeting:

• The board approved an extended and revised contract for Rich Rodriguez, head UA football coach. The changes extends his contract by one year to Nov. 30, 2017, increases his base salary and makes adjustments to other compensation schedules.
• The regents approved a contract for Anthony Amato, the new UA women's head soccer coach. Amato's contract will run through Dec. 31, 2015, and his base salary will be $80,000, with increases based on team achievements.
• The board appointed Peter Calihan to the University of Arizona Health Network Board of Directors.