Compassionate cancer care
The Ascension Via Christi Cancer Institute, on the seventh floor of Ascension Via Christi St. Francis, is the area’s only dedicated inpatient medical and surgical treatment center specifically for cancer. It includes radiation therapy rooms, an ambulatory infusion center, family gathering rooms and more. And our Cancer Wellness Program helps build patients’ strength to fight the physical and emotional stress of cancer.
The area's leader in cancer care, Ascension Via Christi Cancer Institute features Wichita's only program accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer and the Foundation for Accreditation for Cellular Therapy. State-of-the-art treatment technologies — like the area's only CyberKnife and the da Vinci Robotic Surgery System — make Ascension Via Christi one of the most advanced cancer centers in the nation.
Five hospitalists and a physician assistant care are dedicated to caring for patients hospitalized at the Cancer Institute at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis.
Ascension Via Christi is the only hospital in Kansas outside of the Kansas City metro area with an inpatient cancer treatment center staffed seven days a week with board-certified internists dedicated to cancer care; the team also includes nurses and nurse navigators, social workers, dietitians, chaplains and volunteers and unit-based pharmacists — all with cancer-specific training and experience.
For patients and families, it means having an on-site specialist managing their care and available to provide updates.
The cancer institute spans the entire north side of the seventh floor of the hospital, and includes:
- 40 spacious private patient rooms with bedside controls for window blinds, room temperature, lighting and television
- Soothing nature-inspired décor with plenty of natural light
- On-demand room service for meals and snacks
- Two radiation therapy rooms with private bathrooms and six private bone marrow transplant treatment rooms
- An ambulatory infusion center with four private and three community treatment bays for chemotherapy treatments
- Integrated therapies with a media room and dedicated space for yoga, art and massage therapy
- Two family gathering rooms, temporary family sleep quarters and a family laundry center
- An education resource room with Internet access for patients and families
- A prayer and meditation room, complete with a statue of St. Peregrine, the patron saint of cancer patients
- A nearby pediatric unit offering a supportive environment for children fighting cancer
Here, hospitalized cancer patients receive care from a team of physicians, nurses, nurse case managers, social workers, dietitians, chaplains and volunteers who deliver care with compassion and competence.
Leading cancer care
Cancer patients may come to the Ascension Via Christi Cancer Institute for a wide range of services:
- Chemotherapy services, including care of patients with suppressed immune systems, outpatient blood transfusions, bone marrow and stem cell transplants and palliative care to relieve pain, symptoms and stress of serious illness, whatever the diagnosis or prognosis.
- Biotherapy, also known as immunotherapy, a treatment that stimulates the body's immune defense system to fight disease and infection. Patients may enter the hospital to receive chemotherapy or biotherapy, often in combination with surgery or radiation therapy.
- Surgery in Ascension Via Christi Hospital’s advanced surgical suites, which are equipped with the latest technology and staffed by expert physicians, nurses and other professionals to ensure that the most complex surgical procedures can be performed.