There is no doubt in Dr. Steven Gabbe's mind about the impact he hopes Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center's new cancer hospital and critical care center will have on its patients and the medical community at large: "We want this new hospital to be the place where the cures for cancer are discovered," says the medical center's CEO, who pitched the plans for the $1 billion project to OSU's board just after a few months in his role.
The hospital's namesake, Arthur James, MD, was a Columbus-based oncologist who championed the health system's first cancer hospital, which opened in 1990 as one of the earliest cancer-
focused hospitals in the nation and the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in central and southern Ohio. His name and vision will be carried on at the new Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, slated to open this December.
In development for more than 10 years, the new 21-story facility will expand access to critical care and cancer care for the region (the existing James has been forced to refer potential radiation oncology patients to other facilities) and integrate patient care, research and education into a single facility where specialists work in disease-specific teams to provide individualized patient care. 
Locating researchers alongside clinicians and patients is surprisingly rare, but Dr. Gabbe is confident this single change — which Dr. Gabbe refers to as "bridging the bench to bedside" — is going to lead to significant discoveries in treating cancer. Entire floors will be dedicated to a specific cancer type (breast, colorectal, leukemia/lymphoma and thoracic-focused floors are planned), with researchers, clinicians and patients located together, interacting daily.
"We really believe given how this building has been planned, that it will help us come closer and faster to cures for cancer," says Dr. Gabbe.
When the new James opens in December, it will mark the culmination of Dr. Gabbe's tenure as Wexner's CEO. He will step down in December, having overseen a project which will unquestionably improve access to cancer care, and could potentially — if Dr. Gabbe has his way — eliminate the need for it.