Company Profile
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center
Company Overview
MISSION: To contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer
VISION: Create revolutionary breakthroughs and innovations that rapidly impact and save more lives.
Company History
Funding for construction of the initial $70 million facility came primarily from the state of Florida's cigarette tax, while the momentum to create the center came from a cadre of legislators, physicians, educators, and business leaders who envisioned a new dimension of cancer care and research in Florida.
In late 1978, H. Lee Moffitt, a Florida state representative, recognized the need for a comprehensive cancer center within the state after several friends died from cancer. An excellent negotiator, Moffitt put his plan into motion by first proposing the idea to Hollis Boren, then dean of the University of South Florida College of Medicine. Over lunch at the Tampa Club, Moffitt proposed his idea. By dessert, Boren has signed on. "Out of that discussion came plans for a plug-shaped, multilevel cancer research teaching hospital to be built a short walk away from the USF clinics," The Tampa Times reported on February 5, 1979. Moffitt and Boren had gathered information about the need for a comprehensive cancer center, the article said, and the need was great.
Moffitt sought community support and convinced the State Legislature to fund the facility. During the center's planning phase, consultants associated with NCI-designated Cancer Centers were retained to ensure that the finished facility would be as technologically advanced and as efficiently designed as possible.
Groundbreaking ceremonies took place in January 1983. The center was incorporated in the spring of 1984 and was named for Houston Lee Moffitt, then Speaker of the State House of Representatives. The building was dedicated in October 1986 and admitted its first patients that same month.
In 1990, the acquisition of the Research Center building across from the Cancer Center enhanced the recruitment of scientists, clinicians, and support staff, and expanded Moffitt's vision beyond the original structure. The Moffitt Research Center became the focal point for basic and translational cancer research with the overriding goal to produce discoveries that could be translated quickly from the bench to the patient's bedside. The Florida Legislature allocated $12 million for renovation and equipment for this 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) structure, and the Moffitt Research Center became fully operational in 1995. In 1999, 48,000 square feet (4,500 m2) of basic research lab space was added to the Moffitt Research Center at a cost of $11 million to house the growing need for additional scientists.
In 2022 the Florida Legislature approved more than $706 million for a new H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute campus in Pasco County. $600 million in state funding will be distributed in yearly in $20 million yearly increments for each of the next 30 years.
Notable Accomplishments / Recognition
As Florida’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and one of only 30 leading cancer centers in the U.S. participating in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, Moffitt is at the very forefront of cancer centers worldwide.
Moffitt was named LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Leader by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in 2022.
For the seventh consecutive year in 2022, Moffitt Cancer Center was recognized on DiversityInc’s Top Hospitals & Health Systems List of Top Hospitals & Health Systems.
Moffitt achieved exemplar status for its Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE) program, the highest designation in an international nurse-driven initiative designed to help hospitals improve the care of older adults. Moffitt is one of only 38 medical centers in the nation to have achieved this status.
Recognized as one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation by the National Association for Business Resources for the fifth year in a row in 2022.
Named an honoree of a 2021 CSO50 Award from IDG’s CSO. This award recognizes organizations that have implemented security projects and initiatives that demonstrate outstanding business value and thought leadership.
Tampa Bay Times Top Workplaces ranking for the 11th time. The anonymous survey uniquely measures culture drivers that are critical to the success of any organization, including alignment, execution and connection.
Magnet® designation in recognition of our nursing excellence. Magnet recognition is granted by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the credentialing body of the American Nurses Association, to honor outstanding health care organizations for nursing professionalism, teamwork, quality patient care and innovations in nursing practices.
Moffitt is accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. CoC accreditation recognizes programs for their commitment to providing patient-centric, comprehensive, and high-quality care.
Recognized by the Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care
Named a Fertile Hope Center of Excellence, an award presented to "cancer centers for proactively addressing cancer-related fertility."