Construction begins today on a $7.4 million building project that will expand cancer services to patients on Tucson's northwest side.

The Arizona Cancer Center at UMC Orange Grove is adding 12,000 square feet, bringing the size of its clinic at 1891 W. Orange Grove Road to 28,500 square feet.

The new building space will house radiation oncology technology. Construction is expected to be complete in 2011.

The center was formerly known as Arizona Hematology Oncology. The practice joined forces with Tucson's University Medical Center in 2007 to expand cancer care to the Northwest Side, Marana and Oro Valley.

While the center once saw an average of 3,000 patients per year, officials expect that with the expansion, it will serve about 15,000 patient visits annually.

The new center is a collaboration between UMC and the University of Arizona's Arizona Cancer Center, which has two other locations in Tucson - one at UMC and the other at UMC North, at 3838 N. Campbell Ave.

Arizona Cancer Center physicians at the Northwest location hold clinics in medical oncology, surgical oncology, hematology and breast surgery.

In addition to cancer patients, the center treats patients with other diseases who require drug infusions, including neurological, gastrointestinal and rheumatologic disease, Arizona Cancer Center spokeswoman Sara Hammond said.

The expansion is being managed by Tucson-based Town West Design Development.

DID YOU KNOW

The Arizona Cancer Center was founded in 1976. In 1990 it was designated as one of the first comprehensive cancer centers by the National Cancer Institute. It is one of two comprehensive cancer centers within the five-state region of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah.

Contact reporter Stephanie Innes at 573-4134 or sinnes@azstarnet.com