Tucked underneath massive white tarps across from Milford Regional Medical Center workers are building the hospital's new $25 million state-of-the-art cancer center, a facility slated to open in January that officials say will "wow" local patients and their families.

"We're going for the best," said Francis Saba, Milford Regional's president and CEO, describing a facility that will tout all new equipment, competent doctors, breakthrough treatments and a focus on quality care.

Collaboratively run by Milford Regional, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham & Women's Hospital, the center's leadership team will provide testing as well as chemotherapy and radiation treatments under one roof in the suburban community.

"It's pretty exciting for all of us," said Dr. Lawrence Shulman, Dana-Farber's chief medical officer. "It's coming together incredibly well."

Besides radiation therapy - which will be new to Milford's current cancer practice - the center will also offer patients the chance to participate in Dana-Farber's world-renowned clinical tests.

"Our patients are going to have the opportunity to take part in clinical trials that truly can bring about miracles," said hospital spokesman Terri McDonald.

"It's cutting-edge care, it's new breakthroughs," Saba added. "We're going to bring this phenomenal care to this community."

Besides the heightened level of quality services the center will provide, Saba said another attractive aspect of the facility will be its suburban location that saves patients from having to make the grueling treks to the state capital for treatment.

"Patients that live in Weston and drive into Boston may say, 'Gee, there are similar services there.' "

Shulman echoed the sentiment about Milford's convenient location, noting many Dana-Farber patients are forced to do "a lot of traveling through tough traffic" to get to Boston for treatment five days a week for up to seven weeks. Patients will still receive the high-quality treatment, but they'll find it closer to home and with convenient drive-up parking, he said.

"They'll be able to get their radiation right there in Milford," he said. "It's about the quality and convenience ... Patients will choose to come."

The 54,000-square-foot building is taking shape on site, with the steel-framed structure being sheetrocked and workers starting to lay in its part-brick facade, which will also feature one corner of limestone and a glass curtain wall from foundation to the two-story building's roof.

"It's going to be pretty," Saba said. "It's going to be very impressive."

Last week, subcontractors were doing ductwork, welding and installing heat lines on the main level's newly-poured concrete floor. One level up, workers were framing walls and doing rough electrical work and plumbing.

Construction - which began in September - is slated to wrap by late fall. "We're right on schedule," said Project Superintendent Sean Dillon of Consigli Construction.

Come January, the masons, carpenters and plumbers will be replaced with doctors, nurses and support staff. The piles of lumber and spools of electrical wire will have been used up and cutting-edge cancer equipment will be in its place.

The cancer center - still without an official moniker - is "the first of its kind" with world-renowned Dana-Farber starting to set up satellite centers in new communities, Saba said.

While it has a satellite facility at a sister hospital, Jamaica Plain's Faulkner Hospital, Milford will represent Dana-Farber's first partnership with an independent hospital, said Shulman. The institute is currently looking at hospitals in the South Shore area for a similar venture, he said.

Milford Regional was identified as an attractive partner because of the field reputation of its two practicing oncologists - Dr. Mona Kaddis and Dr. Michael Constantine - as well as the hospital's values and aspiration to provide quality care.

"It's really quite excellent. We know them. They're just top-notch docs and it's just a great hospital," Shulman said. "From that point of view, Milford seemed like an ideal partner."

In the center, Milford Regional will conduct laboratory testing and provide diagnostic image technology including CAT scans, MRIs and X-rays. Dana-Farber will oversee medical oncology led by Milford's doctors, while Brigham & Women's will manage radiation oncology.

"It was almost a match that was meant to happen," Saba said. "We are really pleased with the relationship and with the partnership and we're very excited about what we know this is going to be."

Drs. Kaddis and Constantine will continue working with their patients in the center, and Shulman expects the center to be so well-received that the institute will work with Milford on a joint hire to bring in another oncologist.

Through the partnership, patient medical records will easily be able to be transferred between the cancer center and Dana-Farber's flagship facility in Boston, where patients may still be referred for some treatments, Shulman said. The system will beat the current way with paper-form records being sent between the hospitals, he said.

"If they're receive care in Milford and they need to come to Dana-Farber for a particular therapy that's not available there, all the records are the same," he said. "They can actually come back and forth pretty seamlessly."

Danielle Ameden can be reached at 508-634-7521 or dameden@cnc.com.