Prince George's County leaders and patients celebrated the groundbreaking of a new cancer center at the University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center in Largo that will be the first of its kind in the county, bringing access to quality cancer treatment closer to home.
When Oxon Hill resident Linda Stewart was diagnosed with breast cancer, one of her first concerns was where she could go for treatment.
“I ended up going to another county,” she said.
She received a bilateral mastectomy at the Anne Arundel Medical Center, followed by chemo treatments in Silver Spring – both miles away from her home in Prince George's County.
“You’re just really tired, and just adding travel to that just makes it a little bit more tiring,” she said.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan joined Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks for the groundbreaking of the new cancer center.
“I’m speaking today not just as a governor who’s helping to make this project happen but also as a cancer survivor and a former patient,” Hogan said.
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Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the county. The new state-of-the-art outpatient center is designed to be a one-stop shop for patients, offering oncologists, surgery, and high-quality screenings and treatment.
“Right here in Prince George’s County, we’re investing $67 million to fully fund the construction of this brand new, comprehensive cancer center,” Hogan said.
“My mother is a breast cancer survivor,” Alsobrooks said. “And my father’s mother, father and brother all died of cancer. In each of those instances we had to go out to the District of Columbia, other places, travel to get the treatment that we needed.”
As devastating as a cancer diagnosis can be, the hope is the new center will lift some of the burden.
“It’s exciting for our county, I think, to have this coming,” Stewart said.
The center is expected to open in March 2024. They are working to build the program, beginning with a focus on lung, colorectal, breast and prostate. But there are surgeries for breast cancer being offered now at the Laurel location.
The $67 million for the new cancer center comes from Hogan’s $200 million investment into cancer treatment and research throughout the state of Maryland.
Hogan said that after beating his own cancer, he vowed to eradicate it in Maryland.
