MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in October opened the Sarah & Taylor Nederlander Breast Center as part of a new facility that it calls “the future of women’s health.”
“It came out more beautiful than we planned,” Saddleback Medical Center Chief Executive Marcia Manker told the Business Journal.
“It’s been embraced by the community. It’s fully booked up.”
The center is part of an $80 million, three-story, 40,000-square-foot facility called the Women’s Health Pavilion in Laguna Hills. Once completed this summer, the Women’s Health Pavilion will also house OB-GYNs and surgical oncologists who specialize in gynecological cancers as well as specialty care programs specific to women such as dermatology or cardiology.
The Women’s Health Pavilion is touting itself as a “one-stop shop” with short wait times, same-day appointments, an outdoor garden and a “comfortable, spa-like environment.”
The facility is across the street from the MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center, which ranks No. 9 on the Business Journal’s annual list of the largest hospitals in Orange County.
The Pavilion is also part of a medical building boom in Orange County.
In Irvine alone, the spending includes a $1.3 billion hospital campus for UCI Health, a $1.5 billion investment for City of Hope Orange County’s new hospital and clinic, and a $1 billion expansion by Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.
“I’ve never so much investment in such short period of time,” Manker said. “It’s a great opportunity for our community to have access to world-class oncology care.”
Early Detection
Sarah and Taylor Nederlander, sisters who grew up in Emerald Bay, donated $2.5 million in 2022 through the Harry J. Nederlander Foundation to support the Saddleback breast center.
Their grandfather was Harry J. Nederlander, who was known for his family’s theater empire.
At a young age, the sisters were inspired on the topic of breast cancer research and treatment by their stepfather, Dr. Gary Levine, who is the medical director of MemorialCare Breast Centers.
MemorialCare says the Sarah & Taylor Nederlander Breast Center, which makes up the first floor of the Women’s Health Pavilion, features the most advanced technology for the early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer, including 3D mammography, breast ultrasound, breast MRI and more.
About 95% of patients won’t have a cancer diagnosis and for those who do, it’s important to detect it as early as possible, Manker said.
An important distinction from other medical facilities is that its radiologists are dedicated only to breast cancers, she added.
“They are not generalists,” Manker said. “They are just trained on breasts. That’s how we’re able to catch cancers much earlier than other means.
“We diagnose more cancers than anyone else in the county.”
The center doesn’t have an app or artificial intelligence to instruct patients with breast cancer. Rather, it features “a breast care navigator” who waits for the patient to arrive in the building and guides her through what is needed.
“It’s that friend right there at the entrance,” Manker said.
“We have state-of-the-art technology. It’s important but it’s our personal attention and care that sets us apart.
“It’s really a center for healthy women to stay healthy. If they do get a diagnosis, we wrap them in a healthy system.”
