Mayo Clinic breaks ground on $9 million Cancer Center expansion

By: 
Jarrod Schoenecker

Mayo Clinic Health Systems graphic

The exterior rendering of the Cancer Center expansion.

Mayo Clinic Health System in New Prague broke ground on their $9 million Cancer Center and Infusion Therapy expansion on Oct. 2.

"This expansion of the Cancer Center is a reflection of our commitment to providing cutting-edge care, individualized support and a healing environment for every patient who walks through our doors," says James Hebl, M.D., regional vice president of Mayo Clinic Health System in Southwest Minnesota.

According to Mayo Clinic, the number of patients in the United States needing cancer care is expected to grow by nearly 9% in the next five years — one of the reasons for the expansion.

This expansion was previously mentioned during a virtual public hearing for the hospital ceasing labor and delivery services in New Prague in February of this year.

Mayo Clinic says that this project is the second phase of their strategic vision for the New Prague campus. The first phase was completed in Jan. 2022, a $5 million operating room expansion with the introduction of numerous surgical specialties.

An integrated and full-service Oncology Department, providing clinical care, chemotherapy, targeted therapies and immunotherapies, genetic counseling, nutrition guidance, social work assistance, pharmacy, eight infusion therapy bays, two private rooms for cancer and non-cancer infusions, five exam rooms for oncology and hematology patients; and a dedicated clinician office, nurse station and break room are included as part of the expansion.

Enhanced patient privacy, accommodations that support infection control, patient flow and wayfinding, and a large garden area outside with large windows in patient rooms are other things patients and visitors can expect as part of their experience in the Cancer Center.

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Mayo Clinic Health Systems New Prague Medical Director Martin Herrmann, M.D., said, “The MCHS/New Prague Cancer Center will not have any effect on current hospital rooms for patient care and all current patient care areas will remain functional during construction including our current Oncology and IV infusion department. Current second story hospital rooms adjacent to the new construction have East facing windows that will gaze directly over the project’s main floor along Columbus Ave.”

Herrmann says that the basement floor of the new construction will occupy hospital infrastructure and cafeteria space that is currently there, and the main floor or ground level will be the new patient area.

The new space will have the capacity to staff two full-time oncology providers and the “necessary complement of additional nursing specialists to staff the clinic and IV infusion team,” according to Herrmann. “Oncology/Hematology experts will be staffing the Cancer Center and they typically evaluate and treat patients with the diagnosis of cancer and other non-malignant blood disorders. In addition, a growing number of IV infusion therapies have recently become available to treat an increasing number of medical conditions not related to cancer. This project will allow New Prague area patients access to those evaluations and treatments locally.”

"What excites our team the most is the opportunity it brings to improve lives and how it will change the way we provide cancer care here in New Prague," said Amrit Singh, M.B.B.S., chair of Oncology and Hematology for Mayo Clinic Health System in Minnesota. "Our plans include creating additional patient capacity, modernizing the facility and improving efficiency by bringing the cancer and infusion therapy practices together into a combined location."

The 6,400 square foot expansion project is expected to be completed sometime in the fall of 2025.

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