The $20 million AHN Cancer Institute - Butler is scheduled to be open in February.

The Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute being built in Butler Township isn't just changing the landscape of Pullman Square. It's also changing the landscape of patient treatment in Butler.

The $20 million project, helmed by Mascaro Construction of Pittsburgh, is expected to be finished mid to late February 2019, said Gary Franz, Mascaro's superintendent for the project.

The biggest change to the patient landscape will be the merging of the West Penn Allegheny Oncology Network at Benbrook Medical Center in Lyndora with the new AHN Cancer Institute — Butler.

Operations will shift from the Benbrook location to the new facility as soon as the building opens, said Stephanie Waite, strategic communications adviser for Allegheny Health Network.

Currently, the West Penn Allegheny Oncology Network location provides medical oncology, which means the site offers only chemotherapy.

The merging of the two facilities means the new cancer institute will be a one-stop shop for Butler patients who can now receive nearly all their care locally.

Waite said the cancer institute services will include a wide array of clinical and support services, state-of-the-art radiation oncology capabilities, medical oncology and infusion therapy, nutritional counseling and social services. The facility will also provide patients easier access to clinical trials as well.

To provide these services, AHN is implementing new technologies including a radiotherapy treatment that adapts to different body types or complexity of cases; a new information system that enhances planning, safety, and quality; a CT scanner that views body tissues in 20 layers of detail; and a high-precision radiation treatment that allows tumors to be precisely targeted.

“Patients should not need to make a long drive into the city to get the care they need.” Waite said. “Having these services offered closer to home means patients are more likely to complete their treatment plan and have a better outcome.”

Right now, the construction of the cancer institute is nearing the end of what Waite called phase one.

According to Franz, the 34,000-square-foot, two-story facility is coming together on time and is about 20 percent completed.

Rising from the mounds of dirt and machinery is the outline of the building created from steel and concrete.

Steel beams that will frame the main structure of the building were being lifted and welded into place in the center of the site. Surrounding the steel skeleton are three concrete structures rising from the landscape.

The two taller structures are for stairwells and elevators. That squat building, waiting to have its roof poured, is the linear accelerator vault.

Also known as a linac, the vault is one of the most important parts of the center as it is used for external beam radiation of cancer patients.

Franz said the walls for the linac can vary anywhere from 3 feet, 7 inches thick to 4 feet, 2 inches thick to help stop radiation from passing through the walls.

In the center of the linac is a 7-foot thick by 10-foot wide column with a beam running across.

“There's a machine they put inside (the column) and it shoots people with radiation,” said Franz. “The thickened beam set center overtop of that unit helps block the radiation from going out.”

Below ground workers are installing storm work, manholes and piping, along with underground conduit for data, power and other main utilities and are digging out a retention pond.

Once the building is finished, the first floor and stairways will be covered with brick and the second floor will be covered with metal panels.