CANTON – Aultman's Timken Family Cancer Center will welcome its first patients on Monday.

The hospital hosted a ribbon cutting Wednesday and provided the media tours beforehand at the new addition to Aultman Hospital's campus at 2600 Sixth St. SW. The outpatient facility includes oncology and multi-disciplinary offices, a stat lab, a resource center and infusion spaces to treat up to 44 people at a time.

Tina Biasella, vice president of cancer services for Aultman Hospital, said the center improves the ease of access for cancer patients with a central location for services, which currently are "scattered" between multiple floors in the main building and the Aultman Physician Office Building.

More: Timken Cancer coverageAultman's new center in Canton.

"It's a number of different areas that are coming over into this space," Biasella said.

The center features consultation rooms, which the hospital doesn't have now, to provide a place to talk away from exam rooms. Biasella said they primarily will be used for patients in the hospital's clinic trials program.

The first-floor infusion center ― where patients receive chemotherapy, blood transfusions or IV therapy ― has four private suites with hospital beds separated by doors. The 32 semi-private rooms with recliners and curtains are on either side of the building so that each room has a window, and a single nurse will supervise four patients at a time.

There are two community infusion areas with four chairs grouped together, which also have privacy curtains.

Oncologist Raza Khan said the beds will be good for longer infusion treatments, some of which can last six to eight hours. He expects the community areas to serve patients as well.

"Some of them get nervous if they're just by themselves," he said.

Aultman Hospital has about 85 infusion patients per day, said Biasella. The cancer center has six more chairs than the current facility, but cancer treatments increasingly consist of oral drugs and shorter infusion times, she noted.

An on-site pharmacy will dispense chemotherapy drugs to patients.

The new 45,000-square-foot facility was constructed to let in natural light with large windows that overlook an outdoor reflection garden and courtyard. A patient advisory group provided suggestions regarding the layout, furniture and other design features, such as nature-themed artwork and earth colors found throughout the center.

Hallways connect the cancer center to the hospital's 13,000-square-foot Radiation Oncology Department, which was renovated as part of the cancer center project and received $5 million in equipment upgrades.

The Aultman Health Foundation put $10 million toward the $28 million cancer center and the rest came from community donations. The Timken Foundation, for which the center is named, donated $3 million.

"We definitely could not have done this without the community," Biasella said.

Reach Kelly at 330-580-8323 or kelly.byer@cantonrep.comOn Twitter: @kbyerREP