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GREENSBORO — A walkthrough of the expanded Cone Health Cancer Center evokes a Letterman-esque top 10 list of sorts.

The Top 10 Really Cool Strikes Against Cancer — as imagined by doctors and social workers in a community hospital setting?

From an outdoor wind chime with more than 1,500 individual butterflies attached — part of a “healing landscape” — to the latest technology (first in the state) targeting tumors deep within the body, the fruits of the $15 million expansion are notable.

Here’s why:

10. Big on privacy

It’s a 38,000-square-foot expansion and renovation. Yet Cone Health built it with intimacy in mind, thanks in part to $5 million from private donors.

The dedicated space for the Alight Breast Cancer Center , born from scribblings on a breast cancer patient’s napkin, allows patient care to be coordinated in small, private locations.

“It takes away some of that sense of being overwhelmed,” said Dr. Sarah Squire , a radiation oncologist.

Inside, there’s a multi-disciplinary clinic with medical staff offices, exam rooms and waiting areas for breast cancer patients and families. The patient is visited in one place by each doctor — no longer having to make separate appointments that can delay planning treatments.

“They walk out with a summary of 'This is the plan,’” said Dr. Stacy Wentworth , a radiation oncologist. “It’s these are my doctors’ recommendations, these are my next appointments, this is when I’m going to chemotherapy class.’”

9. New technology

“We can now treat anything that we want to, and we can do it in a way that’s best for the patient,” said lead clinical physicist B.J. Sintay . “We truly have the best tools in the industry to treat cancer.”

Sintay is referring to the multi-million dollar TomoTherapy unit, notable for patients who have run out of options. It can produce customized levels of radiation, allowing doctors to treat hard-to-reach tumors in sensitive places, even different ones in the same time frame. Cone Health has the first in the state and one of a few in the Southeast.

“We’re trying to break the mold from what a community cancer center looks like,” Sintay said.

Another machine, TruBeam Stx , lets physicians perform scalpel-free surgeries using a high, precise dose of radiation that can eradicate cancers in places like the brain and spine, while limiting side effects to healthy tissue.

“Their treatment could be reduced from a matter of weeks to a matter of days,” said oncologist Squire.

8. More area options

High Point Regional Hospital’s new partnership with Duke Medical Center, announced Thursday, strengthens cancer

research in the area.

Cone Health is more focused on treatment.

Both provide more options closer to home.

“Competition is a healthy thing in any industry,” said Skip Hislop, Cone’s vice president of oncology .

“It really makes you focus and ups the ante in how you work collaboratively. It really makes you look at what is the top level cancer care that can be provided. You look at it and say, 'How can we do a better job than they do?’”

7. Patient care

The two-story entryway includes a panoramic rendering of the ocean divided into three panels — among 60 pieces of original art created by North Carolina artists for the building.

The general waiting area has the intentional look of a spa, with waves etched in the design of glass windows and walls. The colors and patterns assembled give a nod to the healing arts movement.

The labyrinth, an outdoor spiritual trail, has benches.

6. Open doors

“We are all touched by cancer,” said Cone Health CEO Tim Rice , whose mother battled breast cancer. “I literally can’t walk through the center without seeing someone I know.”

More than 3,000 new cancer patients are treated annually at Cone Health, with an estimated 100,000 visits. According to 2009 data, 20 percent were breast cancer cases, 16 percent were lung cancer and 8 percent were colorectal cancer.

“There are things we can do that people will drive long distances for,” he said.

5. Money, jobs

There is a multiplier effect, especially in bringing more money to the community.

“We know that health care is a very important industry in our country — it’s the only industry that didn’t lose employment in this recession,” said Don Jud , professor emeritus from the UNCG Bryan School of Business and Economics.

“It means that a lot of those health care dollars that might otherwise be spent outside the community will be spent here,” Jud said.

4. Patient support

The center has two breast cancer patient navigators, each helping patients understand the treatment process and get the help they need. Wentworth, an oncologist, has a young breast cancer patient with an inherited form of the disease who didn’t have the money for a mammogram.

“Our breast cancer navigators were able to coordinate with community groups to find the money,” she said.

3. Next steps

The dedicated space christened the Doris S. Tanger Center for Patient and Family Support provides an auditorium, additional classroom space and a cancer library — but also offices for pastoral care, social work, and counseling on genetics, psychology and nutrition .

“You are making it seamless for the patients so they can focus on the task at hand, and that’s getting better,” Hislop said.

The focus here is beyond the diagnosis and includes community partnerships.

“It turns into what does it mean to live with cancer? What does it mean to be a survivor?” Hislop said, referencing “Finding Your New Normal,” an eight-week class with open discussion.

2. Access to trials

As many as 40 clinical trials are taking place at any given time.

Current trials focus on breast, cervix and endometrial cancers, among others, and provide patients who qualify with access to the latest investigational drugs and most advanced treatment available.

The center is the North Carolina member of the ACORN (Accelerated Community Oncology Research Network), which has an exclusive partnership with Novartis, Lilly and Glaxo-Smith Klein. It is an affiliate of the Southeastern Cancer Control Consortium and participates in the National Cancer Center-approved clinical research projects.

1. Staff

“I make rounds every day,” Hislop said. “I see the compassion. I see the caring. I see the excitement.”

A goal for every staff member — from security to physicians — is to improve customer satisfaction. It’s written in their evaluations.

“When patients come into this cancer center, we want to make them feel they are coming into a family environment,” Hislop said. “You want laughter in a cancer center, people with smiles on their faces — an uplifting experience even in a difficult time.”

Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nancy.mclaughlin@news-record.com