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Medical Center Expansion

The Facts-
The Main Hospital Building:

  • The main hospital tower will be 20 stories, or 293 feet, tall and will be the tallest building on The Ohio State University campus. It will be one of the 15 tallest hospitals in the United States and one of the 25 tallest in the world. It will encompass 1.1 million square feet.
  • The $1.1 billion Medical Center Expansion project includes 276 patient beds in the new James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute and 144 beds in the critical care tower. 
  • The new James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute will occupy 12 stories. Three stories will comprise the critical care hospital. Four floors are reserved for mechanical equipment and one floor is currently undetermined. 
  • While the building will be 20 stories tall, the floors will be numbered up to 21. There will not be a 13th floor, as is traditional in most U.S. hospitals that reach this height. 
  • 11,000 tons of structural steel will be used in construction of the new building (equal to the weight of 25 Boeing 747 airplanes). It will also include one-million pounds of ductwork and more than 90 miles of pipe. 
  • The Medical Center Expansion project will add a patient-friendly central concourse to the Medical Center's main campus, linking hospitals, clinics, laboratories, classrooms, administrative offices and garages, offering patients and family members convenient access to healthcare services and other amenities throughout the Medical Center complex, as well as a new café. 

Additional details of interest about the new building:

  • 5,600 truckloads of dirt were removed from the construction site to create the basement for the new building, which sits on a "bathtub" foundation – an energy-efficient and fiscally sound way to protect a facility from water damage 
  • 700 loads of concrete were used to create the basement slab 
  • It's a 30-minute climb to the top of the 14-story tower crane, which can lift 30,000 pounds 100 feet (the equivalent of three standard-size ambulances)

Check out the expansion project By the Numbers

About The New James Cancer Hospital & Solove Research Institute and Critical Care Expansion


The new Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute and critical care center has been designed around a visionary construction model, which includes integrated spaces for research, education and patient care.

It will be a living, working model of P4 Medicine and personalized health care, transformative concepts in modern healthcare practice and delivery. (P4 Medicine is predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory.)


Expanding Access

The new James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute's state-of-the-art facilities will allow significantly more patients and families to access Ohio State's unique and exceptional services. It will allow the Medical Center to serve 310,000 patients annually. It will support high-quality, patient-centric P4 medicine, which is making health care more effective and affordable.

As cancer continues to touch more Ohio families each year, expansion of The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute is critical for those seeking the latest advancements in diagnosis and treatment. The expansion allows The James to meet an expected 21 percent increase in admissions over the next 10 years.

The project will enable the Medical Center to continue its commitment to the community, including health care access to uninsured and underinsured Ohioans. The Ohio State University provided more than $163 million in community benefit in 2010 in the form of charity care, Medicaid shortfalls, outreach activities, subsidized health services, health professions education, research, and donations to community groups and events.

A New Model of Patient Care

The new home for the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute and Critical Care Tower will include private rooms. Every critical care patient will include adjoining comfort zones for family members to stay nearby.

Patient rooms in the new hospital will be bathed in abundant, natural light, with visual and physical access to parks and green space, including the new Phyllis Jones Legacy Park and the new Chlois G. Ingram Spirit of Women Park. This unique, calming setting for care has been proven to have a positive impact on patient healing.

The Medical Center Expansion project facilities will allow for more in-room care, reducing the need to transport patients throughout the hospital, which reduces stress and exposure to infection.

The project will foster advancements in information technology that will integrate electronic medical records into each patient's room, putting vital patient information at the fingertips of caregivers to ensure quicker, safer and more accurate patient care.

Full-scale mockups of a cancer patient room, critical care room and nursing station are being constructed at Ackerman Road so Medical Center physicians, staff, selected former patients and other authorized individuals can tour and offer recommendations for improvement.