Mercy Health breaks ground for cancer center

The cancer center is being built to provide a home for all of Mercy Health-Lourdes Hospital’s oncology services, including medical and support services. The goal for the cancer center is to provide one building where patients and their loved ones can access all services related to their cancer treatment in one location to help ease the burden on patients and their family during their treatment journeys. It will be located in between Lourdes Hospital and the Paducah Medical Pavilion on Lone Oak Road.

“In western Kentucky, we are among the worst regions in the nation in terms of incidence of cancer and mortality from cancer. We need more resources in our county, and we’re proud to finally commit the $12.5 million to build a state-of-the-art facility that our community deserves and needs,” Mercy Health Kentucky Market President Michael Yungmann said.

Inside of the 19,000-square-foot cancer facility, the center will provide space for three medical oncologists/hematologists and three advanced practice providers; 21 exams rooms, one procedure room, an infusion bay with 22 infusion bays that can be arranged in a variety of ways in the room, an oncology pharmacy and laboratory, a community resource room, a prayer and meditation room, and space for all integrative and ancillary cancer services.

Additionally, Mercy Health-Lourdes Hospital’s cancer center will be the first building in the Bon Secours Mercy Health network to have a geothermal system, a renewable energy source that relies on the heat generated within the earth for energy.

In Mercy Health-Lourdes Hospital Medical Director of Oncology Dr. William Skinner’s 34-year career as a medical oncologist, he has seen much change in the way medical professionals treat cancer patients. Back in the day, Skinner said there were only a handful of cancer treatments available that would be used for the large majority of cancer patients regardless of what type of cancer they had.

Now, there are multiple treatment regimens for all different types of cancers that medical teams can utilize to fit a specific patient’s needs, and Skinner said cancer treatments are advancing at a much faster pace. Also, Skinner added there are more ways to screen for cancer and cancer risks in patients, which gives doctors a better chance of identifying cancer earlier and thus giving patients a better treatment outcome.

“Today we embark on a journey to build a new cancer center that will enable us to continue delivering and improving the excellence of caring for cancer patients, as well as to secure the opportunity to potentiate and multiply our care when innovations arise,” Skinner said.

John Montville, Mercy Health-Lourdes Hospital executive director of oncology services, said he has never been involved in a project more patient-centered in his career than Mercy Health-Lourdes Hospital’s cancer center project.

Montville said these services help to give patients and their families some control during treatment, and said the center would be designed to make sure the building is comfortable and not overwhelming.

Denton said donations to the Mercy Health-Lourdes Foundation’s $1 million cancer center campaign will be dedicated toward services for patients and their families. Some of the services provided include access to counselors and nutritionists, cold cap therapy to reduce hair loss during chemotherapy treatment, lymphedema sleeves, and tattoos for those who undergo surgery on their breasts during breast cancer treatment.