The University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City has announced a $10 million challenge gift from local philanthropist Annette Bloch to expand its cancer programs.

The gift will support construction of Cambridge North Tower, which when completed will house surgical oncology, neurology, neurosurgery, and ear, nose, and throat programs. The gift will also be used to purchase technology for interventional labs and operating suites in the surgical oncology unit. According to its terms, the gift must be matched by contributions from additional donors by June 2016.

The North Tower addition is expected to cost about $279 million, with $100 million of that to be raised from private donors. With Bloch's gift, the hospital has raised more than $34 million for the project.

In 2008, Bloch, president of the R.A. Bloch Cancer Foundation, gave $20 million to the hospital to expand its cancer services. In recognition of that gift, the hospital's main cancer care pavilion in Westwood and the radiation oncology pavilion on the main campus in Kansas City are both named for Bloch and her late husband, Richard Bloch, a co-founder of tax services giant H&R Block.

"The hospital is a special place, and we are lucky it is here in Kansas City," said Bloch. "It takes more than the power of one gift for its programs to continue to grow. I want others to take a look at the critical role the hospital and the cancer center play in the health of the region and the nation."