On May 8, 14-year-old cancer survivor Noah Reeb climbed into the cab of an excavator to help break ground on a major expansion of the Senator Orrin G. Hatch Proton Therapy Center at Huntsman Cancer Institute. The $43 million project will add a 9,000-square-foot addition, including a three-story treatment vault built into the hillside, and is designed to double the center’s daily patient capacity. For families across the Mountain West who have been driving hundreds of miles for proton therapy, the project promises shorter trips and more appointments closer to home.
What’s Being Built
The expansion will carve a three-story concrete vault into the hill behind the existing center and add nearly 9,000 square feet of patient and treatment space, with specialized shielding and climate controls to ensure precision and containment, according to Huntsman Cancer Institute. Jacobsen Construction will lead the build, with VCBO handling design, Stantec providing technical expertise and Mevion supplying the proton equipment. Huntsman says construction is expected to finish in 2028 and that the institute invested $43 million in the project.
Why Proton Therapy Matters
Proton therapy uses high-energy beams that stop at the tumor and spare more healthy tissue than conventional radiation, making it especially useful for tumors near the brain or spinal cord and for pediatric patients. Treatment typically requires daily visits over several weeks. The Proton Therapy Center has treated more than 600 patients since opening in 2021, about one-third of them children who receive care coordinated with Primary Children’s Hospital, and it draws patients from Utah, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Wyoming and Colorado, as reported by KSL.
Voices From the Hillside
Noah, who was first treated at the center as a 9-year-old, told the crowd he felt "calm and hopeful" during his treatments and said he was glad more kids will have the same access. His father, James Reeb, described the return to the treatment room as unexpectedly emotional and said seeing Noah healthy made his "heart burst." Clinicians at the ceremony emphasized the expansion's research benefits, with Matthew Poppe calling it an "important advancement" for studying and improving proton delivery, as reported by KSL.
Timeline and What’s Next
Huntsman officials say the build will let the center treat roughly twice as many patients each day, easing scheduling and reducing the need for long travel for families. Jacobsen Construction president Gary Ellis said the hillside build "will save lives," and the institute is positioning the extra capacity to support clinical research and training, according to Huntsman Cancer Institute. Construction is expected to continue through 2028, with patient access and scheduling updates to be announced as systems are installed and tested.
Local Context
The proton expansion arrives as Huntsman pursues broader regional growth, including a new Vineyard campus announced last year; for background see the new Vineyard campus. For local families, the project is a tangible step toward keeping complex oncology care closer to home and strengthening Salt Lake City's role as a Mountain West referral center.
