By Samantha Kupiainen

The IU Health Joe & Shelly Schwarz Cancer Center celebrated the opening of its new supportive care oncology suite last month with a ribbon-cutting celebration. The new suite will provide centralized services in one location for oncology patients, offering a “one-stop shop” for the comprehensive needs they might have. Previously, patients might have had to travel to different offices across the hospital for different specialties.

The suite will provide services such as palliative care, cardio oncology, genetic counseling, lung cancer screenings, medical and molecular genetics, physician medicine and rehabilitation, psychiatry, rehabilitation and sexual health.

“Any time there is growth, there are many factors that need to be considered,” said Ann Bredensteiner, manager of the Supportive Care Oncology Suite and Integrative Health at the IU Health Schwarz Cancer Center. “We evaluated our current state and considered which service lines best fit with the overall alignment of supportive care. There were space requirements, building codes and equipment needs that needed to be addressed to make sure that we were following proper protocols and that we had the tools that we needed to do the job correctly.”

The suite, which is on the first floor of the cancer center, was designed with oncology patients in mind, with relaxing room colors and artwork. The design also aims to make it easier for specialists to collaborate on care.

The suite comprises five exam rooms, two consultation rooms and one combined physician work room.

“We were very intentional in making sure our staff is highly qualified and they fit well with the mission and values of IU Health,” Bredensteiner said. “There were many people behind the scenes who worked very hard to make the clinic a reality. We are very proud to provide this level of coordinated care to our patients.”

The IU Health Joe & Shelly Schwarz Cancer Center is at 11645 N Illinois St. in Carmel.