MISSION HILLS : New Center Geared to Patient Comforts

Allene Nungesser is driven by one memory of her successful battle against cancer: descending in an elevator and going through the windowless hallway of a hospital basement for radiation treatment.

“It was like walking into the jaws of hell. It was horrid,” recalls Nungesser, who underwent years of radiation and chemotherapy treatment to fight a rare cancer called rhabdomymial sarcoma.

Now an administrator with the Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, Nungesser vowed to make a proposed cancer center as airy and comfortable for patients as possible when planning began three years ago.

The result is a $4-million center that will feature skylights, indoor trees and plants, piped-in music and a bevy of doctors, specialists and other workers under one roof. The 11,000-square-foot outpatient cancer facility, under construction near the hospital’s entrance, is expected to open by October.

“This center needs to be different,” said Nungesser, 43, the hospital’s chief operating officer and executive vice president. “We want patients to walk into a light, airy, supportive environment where they feel life.”

With hard hat in tow, Nungesser walked through the unfinished building frame Tuesday and pointed out how the center will be geared to a patient’s comfort and needs.

The radiation treatment room will contain a false ceiling painted to look like the sky to give patients a “peaceful feeling” as they gaze upward. A day room will give chemotherapy patients a place to read, watch television or talk with other patients. And two rooms dedicated to support services will give chaplains, nutrition specialists and others a place to conduct workshops and support groups.

“We want to try to make sure we do touch the whole person when they come to our center,” said Nungesser, who received her last cancer treatment in 1985. “Patients need to understand from Day 1 they will smile again.”