The Lennar Foundation Cancer Center will allow patients to receive everything they need to beat cancer under one roof.
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Allie Bertocchini became a patient of City of Hope a week after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019.
"So many people, myself included, have driven an hour, an hour and a half, to other cancer appointments, to other City of Hope locations, and having it right here is going to be life changing for many," she said.
City of Hope Orange County President Annette Walker said 20% of people battling cancer in the county needed to leave the area for specialty care, clinical trials and research.
She said the new facility will deliver some of the most comprehensive treatment, research and cancer cures to its patients while making them feel comfortable through some of their darkest moments.
"We have taken meticulous attention, or given meticulous attention, to making this facility feel more hospitality than hospital," said Walker.
Patients like Frank Wilderson III got to tour the facility for the first time. He said it's the small details City of Hope has built into the cancer center that means the most.
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"The way in which they have set up the intravenous and chemo rooms are going to help with the emotional recovery, which all feeds into the actual physical recovery," he said.
Bertocchini describes having to battle cancer a tough fight.
"It's an awful club to be a part of," she said. "I would not wish it on anyone. It's horrible, but anyone that has to go through cancer, I would hope that they're able to come to the City of Hope and experience cancer here. There's the physical part of cancer and there's the mental part of cancer, and the mental part I don't think ever goes away, but knowing about the care and concern and empathy from anyone that's at City of Hope, I think is tremendous."
City of Hope Orange County will officially open at the end of August.