The Miami Cancer Institute at Baptist Health South Florida will dedicate more resources to treating women’s cancers with its incoming Al and Jane Nahmad Women’s Cancer Center — the first of its kind in the region.
Of the 1,300-odd patients visiting the Miami Cancer Center each day, about a third are being treated for breast, ovarian and cervical cancers. (While men can develop breast cancer, 99% of breast cancers occur in women.) Women currently comprise about 65% of the institute’s patients, and that percentage is expected to grow with Florida’s swelling population.
“Combining all those facts — meeting the requirements for an increasing population, space requirements just for us to care for these patients — we decided the best effort and best use of our resources is to build a facility that’s dedicated to women’s cancer,” says Dr. Michael Zinner, CEO and executive medical director of the Miami Cancer Institute at Baptist Health South Florida.
The 155,000-sq.-ft., four-story women’s cancer center will be across campus from the 450,000-sq.-ft. Miami Cancer Institute. It will house all of the institute’s breast cancer-related care, including diagnostic services, mammograms, medical oncology and reconstructive surgery. The center will also offer gynecology, genetics and dermatology services and allow the institute to expand its clinical teams and research trials.
The center is named after longtime Baptist Health benefactors Al and Jane Nahmad, who donated an undisclosed amount to the Miami Cancer Institute for the project. Al was previously chair of the institute's operating board.
Construction broke ground in September, and the center is expected to be completed around the end of 2026 or the start of 2027.