Kearney Regional Medical Center and Cancer Partners of Nebraska Share Collective Vision for New Kearney Cancer Center
October 14, 2023
On Wednesday, Kearney Regional Medical Center (KRMC) officially welcomed Cancer Partners of Nebraska (CPN) to its ever-growing network of providers by way of a Provider Meet and Greet event held at the Younes Conference Center.
Bill Calhoun, KRMC President and CEO, welcomed a crowd of physicians and healthcare administrators from across Central and Western Nebraska, and shared the vision for the joint cancer project that KRMC and CPN will be venturing into together.
“In 2021, we were looking for a way to deliver cancer services in the community, but we knew that people were leaving Kearney,” said Calhoun. “The element of the service that needed to be provided was the right people, the right place, and the right time. And we weren’t prepared at that juncture to have that for them, but today we are. We asked Bryan Health, who is your partner (in oncology services)? Lo and behold, Cancer Partners of Nebraska.”
Cancer Partners of Nebraska is a chosen provider of comprehensive cancer care in Lincoln and twelve Greater Nebraska communities, and the first and only community oncology practice in Nebraska to become an MD Anderson affiliate institution with the NCI clinical trials network.
“Cancer Partners of Nebraska is right at the center of this relationship,” said Calhoun, “So when somebody gets the diagnosis of cancer, they know that they can get the services they need right here in Central Nebraska. They don’t have to go to Omaha.”
Justin Rousek, CPN Executive Director, provided an overview of CPN’s services which include medical oncology, radiation oncology, gynecologic oncology surgery, oncology rehabilitation, genetic counseling, palliative care and clinical trials. Said Rousek, “Soon Cancer Partners will be able to offer these services to the Central Nebraska community.”
Rousek introduced three CPN providers: Medical Oncologists Dr. Nathan Green and Dr. Steven Dunder, and Radiation Oncologist and Palliative Care Provider Dr. Mark Stavas. All three grew up in Nebraska. Dr. Green in Scottsbluff, Dr. Dunder in Bayard and Dr. Stavas in Lincoln.
Dr. Stavas stressed the importance of oncologists having direct access to specialists and hospital care. “Continuity of care from an inpatient setting is essential to any high-quality treatment approach. For instance, if a patient with head and neck cancer is admitted to the hospital, they can continue their radiation treatment in Kearney, maintaining one medical record, and having their same doctors on-site,” he explained.
He then shared a story from one of his patients who told him recently, “Healing occurs best in the community, not on the interstate or highway, driving from appointment to appointment.”
Dr. Melissa Stade, General Surgeon at KRMC, and Dr. Michael Finkner, Family Medicine Physician at Harlan County Health, also spoke about the increased need for comprehensive oncology and hematology services they are seeing among their collective patients.
Ryan Lukas, Director of Ancillary Services at KRMC, closed out the program by sharing new renderings of the project and highlighting unique services such as infusion and chemotherapy, a state-of-the-art linear accelerator, onsite CT and PET diagnostic imaging, and more.
The Kearney Cancer Center will include a 25,000-square-foot new construction building designed by Ballinger, the same architect as the April Sampson Cancer Center in Lincoln. It will be on a section of ground between Kearney Regional Medical Center and Yanney Park. Construction is expected to begin by the end of 2023, with an opening targeted for 2025.
Cancer Partners of Nebraska, Kearney Regional Medical Center to Open Cancer Center in Kearney
May 11, 2023
Today Cancer Partners of Nebraska (CPN) and Kearney Regional Medical Center (KRMC) announced a joint venture to provide outpatient cancer services in a new-construction, 25,000-square-foot cancer center in Kearney.
The cancer center will be located between KRMC and Yanney Heritage Park and will include:
- Radiation and medical oncology
- Infusion and chemotherapy services
- A state-of-the-art linear accelerator
- National oncology clinical trial access
- Onsite CT and PET diagnostic imaging
"This is an exciting day for all involved and has been many years in the making,” said KRMC CEO Bill Calhoun.
“We have known there is a need for increased oncology services in our community since 2018. And just as we’ve done in other areas such as maternity and emergency/trauma services, we are able to respond to consumer needs if and when the right timing, place and partner are in place. Today we’re thrilled to announce that we’ve found the right partner in CPN,” Calhoun said.
CPN is the first and only community oncology practice in Nebraska to become an MD Anderson affiliate institution with the NCI clinical trials network, and a chosen provider of comprehensive cancer care in Lincoln and eleven greater Nebraska communities. In October 2020, CPN announced a partnership with Bryan Medical Center to build a $45 million, 140,000 square foot comprehensive community cancer center in south Lincoln.
“Having recently joined the Bryan Health system ourselves in 2022, we’ve watched the April Sampson Cancer Center project take shape with Bryan Medical Center and CPN," Calhoun said. "This model truly embodies our core values: trust in local management and improved access to the highest quality care.”
As like-minded health care organizations, CPN and KRMC are committed to bringing greater benefit to the communities they serve, including underserved and vulnerable populations.
“Often we find that patients in greater Nebraska are seeking medical, radiation and surgical oncologists in different locations without centrally coordinated plans for ongoing care,” said CPN Executive Director Justin Rousek. “By opening this Kearney-based cancer center, we can decrease travel time for patients in central and western Nebraska, and allow them more time to focus on treatment and recovery close to home.”
Construction for the project is set to begin in late 2023, with an anticipated opening in 2025.
