Final touches are being made as the July 9 ribbon-cutting ceremony nears, when the facility will see its first patients as well, said Brandon Baldwin, center manager.

The project gives the Iron Mountain area what will be only the second comprehensive cancer treatment center in the Upper Peninsula, said Mandy Shelast, president of Marshfield Medical Center-Dickinson and Marshfield’s Michigan region.

“This has been a dream,” Shelast said. “It’s been something we’ve wanted to deliver to the community for a long time.”

A regional cancer center was part of a $26 million capital investment over five years that Wisconsin-based non-profit Marshfield Clinic Health System pledged when it announced in February 2022 it had finalized an agreement to acquire Dickinson County Healthcare System.

(Betsy Bloom/Daily News photo) SOME OF THE STAFF involved in the Marshfield Medical Center-Dickinson Regional Cancer Center — from left, in front are Mandy Shelast, MMC-D president; Emily Essendrup, nurse practitioner; and Michelle Morel, physician assistant. In back are Dylan Taylor, administrative director of operations; Brandon Baldwin, cancer center manager; and Dr. Gustavo Morel, MMC-D oncologist.

General contractor Gundlach Champion of Iron Mountain began construction in early June 2023, and finished major work on the interior in late April, while exterior work wrapped up by the end of May.

The expansion, built on the hospital’s east side where radiation/oncology was already located, adds 8,000 square feet of new space. That includes five exam rooms, one procedure room, a private gowned waiting area for radiation patients, shared consult and conference area and workspace for providers and other staff.

But Baldwin is particularly excited about the 12 infusion rooms that allow for treating up to 13 patients at the same time with increased comfort and privacy. Each room has a heated, massage-capable reclining chair and a television. Most have windows for looking out on the hospital grounds, with shades that can dim or block out the daylight if the person prefers to nap while undergoing an IV infusion, which can take hours or sometimes much of the day, he said.

Along with 11 private rooms, the infusion area also has a suite with two chairs where friends or family members who might be fighting cancer at the same time can be treated together, Baldwin said.

The center of this section has a nutrition area for coffee, ice, water and grab-and-go snacks such as yogurt. Eventually it might offer more substantial food items such as wraps and salads, he said. Maintaining a proper diet is considered an important part of cancer treatment.

(Betsy Bloom/Daily News photo) ONE OF THE private infusion rooms in the new Marshfield Medical Center-Dickinson Regional Cancer Center.

The new facility also has a private entrance and waiting room for oncology patients, again with comfortable chairs, a simulated fireplace and a model sailing ship that was donated as a decoration.

The 2,300 square feet around the linear accelerator added in 2021 was renovated as well, with a simulated nighttime sky with stars.

It all aims to create a “warm environment,” Baldwin said, adding, “This is your home for the day.”

Shelast agreed, calling the center’s look “a healing environment.”

But perhaps as significant as the quality of care, the new center will allow patients to participate in cancer trials and research locally through the Marshfield system. In the past, such treatment would require going to Green Bay, Marshfield, the Milwaukee area or Madison, Wis.

(Betsy Bloom/Daily News photo) THE LINEAR ACCELERATOR in the radiation oncology unit at Marshfield Medical Center-Dickinson. This piece of equipment, added in 2021, is used for radiation treatments. The area housing it was renovated as part of the cancer center project.

Baldwin, a Kingsford native who started working in radiation therapy 17 years ago before switching to administration in 2022, said while having a cancer center had long been on the “it would be nice” wish list for the hospital, it tended to get hung up on financing.

Then the Marshfield system came into the picture in 2022. “Marshfield as a whole is big into cancer care,” Baldwin noted.

While the Iron Mountain area might be considered small population-wise to have such a facility, its position on the Michigan-Wisconsin border will put cancer treatment within a driveable distance for both the Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin. It also should get patients who use the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in the city.

The center will have a staff of about 30, some already working at MMC-D, some new. They hope to add a second oncologist to join Dr. Gustavo Morel, who has been practicing in Iron Mountain since 2001.

In 2023, Marshfield Medical Center-Dickinson reportedly provided care for more than 1,000 cancer patients, 70% of them from within a 25-mile radius. The new center could double the hospital’s treatment capacity, depending on recruiting enough staff.

(Betsy Bloom/Daily News photo) THE WAITING AREA of the new Marshfield Medical Center-Dickinson Regional Cancer Center has its own entrance, a simulated fireplace and a donated model of a sailing ship on display.

Morel and his staff look forward to the additional options the new facilities will be able to provide. Marshfield has a number of clinical trials available, some in the Phase 3 stage when proven treatments are being tested to see if they can be enhanced through, say, being paired with another drug, Morel said.

The hospital had previously been able to do some clinical trials working with Marquette but that ended by 2011-12, Morel said. This new center won’t completely end the practice of referring patients to other facilities with more resources, he acknowledged, but it should enhance the level of care available here.

In addition to the new accommodations being “more comfy,” the cancer center puts everything under one roof, so patients don’t have to move to another part of the hospital for different treatments, Morel said. “You are in a good place, not traveling all over the place,” he said.

This is the biggest upgrade at Marshfield Medical Center-Dickinson since the emergency room was renovated in 2021, and the cancer center represents almost 10 times that investment, Shelast said.

Darrin Pursley, project manager for Gundlach Champion, said nearly 300 people were directly involved in establishing the new center, through the company, the Marshfield Clinic system and state and local inspectors.

While they have done a number of health care-related projects in the past, this had some extra logistics because it was being built onto an existing facility while adjacent spaces remained in use. It had to be tied into existing systems, Pursley explained, and everything had to be coordinated and timed so it affected other hospital operations as little as possible. That might mean working at night or on weekends to reduce disruption, he said. Plus, the hospital setting required the area remain clean and dust-free.

Yet Gundlach Champion finished on time, with no real problems, Pursley said in an email.

“We have a handful of folks in our organization that specialize in this work and that made all the difference,” he said. “… They understand how these facilities operate, and they make it look easy. … I wouldn’t say any particular challenges emerged, but they certainly existed and we were prepared for them.”

Though the cancer center is close to opening, fundraising for the project will continue. The capital campaign is only $250,000 away from its $3 million goal, with a number of donation options still available. Some of the more significant include $5 million to get naming rights to the center, $500,000 to put a name on the waiting area, $250,000 to name the clinical exam unit down to $25,000 for a name on one of the private infusion suites.

The amount of community support has been gratifying, Baldwin said. “Just an overwhelming feeling of people wanting to be involved … feeling like they had a hand in bringing this to be,” he said.

A list of options for donating can be found at https://www.marshfieldclinic.org/giving/donate. For more information, contact Jill Steckbauer, gift officer, MCHS Foundation, 715-393-2514 or steckbauer.jill@marshfieldclinic.org.

Betsy Bloom can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 240, or bbloom@ironmountaindailynews.com.