Officials Break Ground On New Cancer Center In Prince George's County

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — State and local leaders gathered in Largo Thursday to attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the new University of Maryland Capital Region Cancer Center. The center will be located at the new University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center.

Expected to open in the spring of 2024, the center will provide comprehensive cancer care services, initially focusing on breast, colorectal, lung and prostate cancers, along with improved access to cancer screenings and expanded lifesaving clinical trials.

“This is very near and dear to my heart, because I know just how difficult it is to get that life-altering diagnosis and to experience that feeling of not knowing what comes next,” Gov. Hogan said at the groundbreaking. “With the completion of this new cancer center, the neighborhoods where I grew up and spent much of my life—Landover, Capitol Heights, Largo, Upper Marlboro and all of Prince George’s County—will be able to receive the high-quality cancer treatment and medical care that they deserve right here, where they will have access to some of the best doctors, nurses and health care professionals in the world.”

As part of the Maryland Cancer Moonshot, the state is committing $67 million to fully fund the construction of this new cancer center.

“Taking a multidisciplinary approach to address the incidence of cancer is key and UM Capital will have a significant impact on the community—creating a one-stop destination to provide coordinated care with expertise and compassion,” Mohan Suntha, MD, MBA, president and CEO of the University of Maryland Medical System, said. “We will build on the success we have seen at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center in Baltimore City, as well as other parts of Maryland, where UMMS hospitals are front and center in providing the highest quality care through the UM Cancer Network.”

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks assembled a meeting with the University of Maryland Medical System last October, which included UM Capital Region Medical Center leadership as well as members of the County Council and County Delegation. During that meeting, UMMS asked the County Executive to make a request during the next legislative session for a $67 million cancer center for the county. The County Executive agreed and made it one of her priorities for the 2022 legislative session.

After the County Executive held meetings with leaders in the Maryland House of Delegates and Senate, $40 million was secured in the state’s fiscal year 2023 budget to go toward the new cancer center. The $40 million includes an allocation by the General Assembly and an allocation in a supplemental budget submitted by Hogan. An additional $27 million to finish the facility has been preauthorized in the state’s fiscal year 2024 budget.

“We went into this current legislative session in Annapolis as a partner with the University of Maryland Medical System to advocate for a cancer center in Prince George’s, so we are proud that we have officially secured this funding,” Alsobrooks said. “For too long, Prince Georgians have often had to leave the county to receive quality cancer care, despite the fact that cancer is the second-leading cause of death for county residents. We want to sincerely thank Governor Hogan for his critical support of this project, as well as the state legislature for their support, because this investment will expand access to health care for Prince Georgians.”

In February 2020, MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center in Prince George’s County opened the MedStar Georgetown Cancer Institute at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center. This facility offers 25,000 square feet of treatment space with a state-of-the-art infusion center, a brand new women’s imaging suite and robust radiation therapies, including Zap-X, a radiosurgery system that at the time of installation was only one of three in the world.