First phase of Heartside's $6M Hope Lodge opens for business

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Phase 1 of the American Cancer Society's only Michigan-based Hope Lodge opened last week with an official ribbon cutting ceremony. The event celebrated the completion of the Robert and Barbara Wood West Michigan Area Service Center, named after the lead donors who gave $500,000 toward the project.

The 6,114-square-foot center funds cancer research and provides programs and services in to cancer patients.

"One of the greatest things about the building is that it's LEED certified, even down to the cleaning supplies," says Mike Lindhout, ACS spokesperson. "This is a building that, when you walk through the doors, it's comfortable, it feels healthy."

The open floor plan has 14 workstations, eight private offices, and a conference room, all filled with natural light from an abundance of windows.

"There's a gorgeous lunch room, and that encourages our people to take a lunch break," he adds. "We used to just shoot out the door to the next appointment, and now people are bringing their lunches and sitting down to eat together. I didn't anticipate this. It's been wonderful."

The service center will provide services to Hope Lodge guests as well as cancer patients in Kent, Barry, Ionia, Montcalm, Osceola, and Mecosta Counties. When the Lodge opens later this year, it will provide free temporary housing, transportation, and other services to out-of-town cancer patients who come to area medical centers for treatments and clinical trials.

"Grand Rapids is really becoming a cutting-edge regional and national cancer center," Lindhout says. "We expect Hope Lodge guests will come from all over the world."

Source: Mike Lindhout, American Cancer Society; Karen Hogan, Seyferth Spaulding Tennyson, Inc.

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].