When Kathleen Dove heard that the Evanston City Council approved an expansion of Evanston Hospital’s cancer center, she was nothing short of delighted.
“I’m ecstatic, I’m thrilled,” she said. “I know if my daughter were physically here, she’d be very happy, too.”
Dove’s daughter, Karen Dove Cabral, was treated at Evanston Hospital’s Kellogg Cancer Care Center during her six-year battle with breast cancer. During that time, Dove saw a growing strain on the hospital’s facilities. Cabral was treated in utility closets, an auditorium and, in one case, out in a hall with a blanket over her head to preserve her privacy. Personal medical information was sometimes delivered in “a public space, in a room with curtains and three other people,” Dove said.
There has been a 15 percent increase of cancer in the area in the last few years, said Christine VanDeWege, Senior Director of Kellogg Cancer Care Centers for Evanston Northwestern Healthcare. This trend will probably increase as the baby boomer generation ages, she said.
Last Monday, Dove spoke to the council about her daughter, who died in June 2007, and urged aldermen to approve a zoning ordinance allowing construction on the building.
The council approved the project unanimously, moving Kellogg one step closer to a center with five new stories, natural lighting, bigger rooms and a new health center.
The Senior Director hopes to move current patients by June and have the center demolished by July. The plans include a new health center that will bring services such as psycho-social counseling, financial advice and dietary services under one roof.
VanDeWege said though the hospital has agreed to fund the full cost of the project, it is “actively pursuing” donors to contribute.
Last May, the hospital hired an architecture firm to draw up plans. Now, with Evanston’s approval, the expansion’s advocates will go to the state for final approval.
