Officials at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Beth Israel Lahey Health celebrated on Monday the start of work on their new $1.68 billion Boston hospital to treat cancer patients, the only medical center of its kind in New England.
The clanking of cranes slated to descend over the Longwood site also brings the impending divorce of Dana-Farber and its longtime partner, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, one step closer. Meanwhile, Brigham’s parent, Mass General Brigham, has launched its own rival cancer institute and is constructing new buildings and renovating other spaces to compete.
“We’ve been talking about it an enormous amount, what the hospital will mean, what we will be able to accomplish with a cancer-focused hospital,” said Dr. Benjamin Ebert, Dana-Farber’s chief executive. “But seeing the construction and really imagining what it’s going to look like and what we’re going to be able to do is motivating.”