A calm, healing environment for Cape Cod cancer patients

When cancer care services opened at the new $215 million Edwin Barbey Patient Care Pavilion on May 12, 2025, it was the culmination of nearly six years of planning, designing, funding and building the next step in patient care at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis. And the finished product reflects not only the high level of care provided there, but also the importance of the patient and staff experience, said Michael Lauf, president and CEO of the hospital’s parent company, Cape Cod Healthcare.

“This building, to me, is entirely about Cape Cod, and that’s what makes me so proud,” he said. “It’s so different from any medical building, or any hospital you’re going to see for a long time. It’s very evident how obsessed we are about the patient and about the caregiver.”

Walking into the cancer department’s main entrance, you are immediately struck by the light flooding the spacious reception area, and the soothing, seaside-inspired colors that are throughout the building.

“The elements of design, the colors that we chose, the fabrics, the flooring, the art – are all reflective of the beautiful region we live in. And not in a touristy way, but in a caring and environmental way,” Lauf said.

Barbey Gift

The building project was launched with a $10 million donation – the largest in the hospital’s history – from the Edwin Barbey Charitable Trust in 2021. Peter Barbey, Edwin Barbey’s son, along with Peter’s wife Pamela and their family, arranged for the gift. At a dedication ceremony in April, Peter Barbey called Cape Cod Hospital “an anchor institution for the region” according to an April 25, 2025, Cape Cod Times article. Lauf reported that the Barbey family is thrilled with the finished product.

“Very seldom in life do you meet the expectations of somebody who gave you $10 million for others, and we not only met their expectations, we exceeded them,” he said.

Radiation oncology and medical oncology services are found on the first two floors of the Barbey Pavilion. Cardiovascular services on the third floor and medical/surgical patient beds on the fourth floor will open later this year.

The Design

Planning for the new building started in 2017, when a diverse group of stakeholders, such as physicians and other clinical staff, nurses, social workers, schedulers, former patients, family members, volunteers and others began to engage in the planning through a variety of forums, said Katherine Michaud, executive director of cancer services for Cape Cod Healthcare (CCHC). Representatives from CCHC visited other cancer centers, such as Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., and Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, MA, to gather ideas on design, flow and the patient and staff experience in each facility.

“What we wanted to know from our team and our patients and volunteers was how they would envision working and moving through the facility and being cared for in the space. What were the key things that mean the most to them,” she said. “We wanted to develop a strong, shared understanding of the experiences and needs of patients, their families and staff.”

Interviews with staff, patients and caregivers were conducted to gain a deep understanding of individual ideas and then develop themes.

Many stakeholders participated in workshops using a “human-centered design” framework, which was designed to bring creative, out-of-the-box ideas for the new center. Human-centered design brings an approach that places the consideration of the customer/patient at the center of every phase of the design process, Michaud said.

The human-centered design workshops engaged groups to develop experience principles which could then be applied to the design. One exercise included small groups looking at a particular part of the cancer center and describing their ideal area. For instance, some of the words participants used to describe an ideal waiting room were:

• Functional
• Safe
• Bright
• Warm
• Welcoming

In another exercise, the group was asked to create a desired journey for a patient navigating through medical or radiation oncology, such as a new medical oncology patient, a frequent medical oncology patient, and the same for a new and frequent radiation oncology patient. As a result, the medical oncology floor includes private infusion bays, which were part of one large area in the hospital’s former cancer center. The medical oncology floor also features a rooftop deck with plants, tables and comfortable chairs for patients, their family and friends, and staff to access for reflection and during breaks.

“To be receiving chemo and be able to look out at the water and see boats passing by, or be able to take a moment to go out in our healing garden and look directly into the harbor while getting fresh air; it’s really a beautiful thing,” said Lauf.

In a particularly unique exercise, members of the multi-disciplinary design team were asked to compose a fictional magazine cover and article about the proposed new center, highlighting its features and advantages for patients and staff, Michaud said.

“From those workshops, we were able to derive key themes to carry forward for our architects and designers of the space, to help them better understand who we were and what was important to us,” she said.

An “Audacious” Approach to Funding

To fund the new building at a time when healthcare systems were disrupted and extremely burdened by the COVID-19 pandemic, Lauf and the CCHC Board of Trustees needed to be creative, Lauf said.

He and his team knew there were going to be supply chain shortages, along with staffing and other challenges across the board. So, with the Board’s blessing and even before building began, they prepaid for many building supplies, like air handlers, generators and medical equipment.

“The only way we could build was to buy early,” Lauf said. “It was a big leap, but we had a great partner in (general contractor) Suffolk (Construction), and we had the courage to do it.”

The gamble paid off, he said, adding that, had they waited, it would have cost at least twice the $215 million it cost to build the Barbey Pavilion.

“I thought if we could double-down on a growth strategy; if we could try to make ourselves stronger coming out of one of the weaker times in the entire history of the healthcare industry; if we could have the audacity to invest in growth and see it differently, we could compete longer-term as an independent community health system,” he said.

“I’m proud that we didn’t have to take on large amounts of debt to do it. We’ve put a billion dollars back into the healthcare system (over the past 15 years), and we have $50 million less in debt than we did when I got here (in 2008). So, we didn’t mortgage our future.”

Next For the Hospital

Lauf said he is proud of the new pavilion and has been gratified by patient, staff and visitor feedback.

“People that are challenged with cancer have so much on their plate, and when you make rounds and get to see people now and talk to them, they’re so happy and so comforted that we cared enough about them to design and build this facility. And our staff are walking around with smiles on their faces while dealing with this difficult disease,” he said. “Everybody feels this sense of healing and calmness because of this facility.”

Once the cardiovascular and medical/surgical floors are open at the Barbey Pavilion, along with a new walkway connecting the Pavilion to the main hospital, next on the list for renovation and expansion are the operating rooms and recovery and waiting areas at the hospital, according to Lauf. Down the line, the labor and delivery department will be renovated and expanded, he said. When that is done, it will mean every part of Cape Cod Hospital, as well as Falmouth Hospital, will have received a makeover.

“Every single element of both hospitals has been touched because we know that care is important, but so are facilities,” he said.