Donations Fund Healthcare Giant’s Expansion

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

The Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center broke ground this month on a new cancer care building on one of the highest elevations in East Baltimore. The $100 million Skip Viragh Outpatient Cancer Building is named after Albert P. “Skip” Viragh Jr., a Maryland mutual fund investment leader and philanthropist who was treated for pancreatic cancer at Johns Hopkins and who died of the disease in 2003. The new center is expected to open in late 2017.

Located on the northeast corner of Fayette Street and North Broadway, the 184,000-square-foot facility will house diagnostic and treatment planning services and multidisciplinary clinics, and will provide treatment to patients with solid tumors. The Under Armour Breast Health Innovation Center will also be located on the top floor of the 10-story building. It will offer breast health services, including nutritional counseling, fitness evaluation and survivorship services.

The construction of the project is financed entirely with the help of donations. These include a $65 million gift in honor of Skip Viragh and a $10 million gift from Under Armour. Both donations are part of Rising to the Challenge: The Campaign for Johns Hopkins, an initiative that aims to raise $4.5 billion for students, research and discovery, and interdisciplinary solutions to some of humanity’s most important problems. Targeted for completion in 2017, the campaign has already gathered more than $3.29 billion.

Photo credit: Ayers Saint Gross Architects