Kearney Cancer Center Set to Provide Central Nebraska with New Treatment Option

Excerpted from Nebraska Public Media

Central Nebraska cancer patients will soon have another option for specialty treatment. The Kearney Regional Medical Center – owned by Bryan Health – and Cancer Partners of Nebraska are coming together to open the Kearney Cancer Center, a 25,000-square-foot facility dedicated to cancer treatment.

The center includes a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner to detect early signs of cancer, a linear accelerator for delivering radiation to treat tumors, and infusion bays with views of Yanney Park for chemotherapy patients. It will also offer on-site lab and diagnostic imaging, access to national clinical trials and certified mastectomy fitting. Patients will have access to physical and occupational therapists across the street at the regional medical center.

Dr. Justin Burr, a radiation oncologist with Cancer Partners of Nebraska, said the collaboration will allow more cancer patients to stay in central Nebraska instead of having to travel to Lincoln or Omaha.

“What we’re trying to do, and what the vision is, is to really ensure that a patient can come here and be taken care of here,” he said. “They don’t have to leave, they don’t have to go to a different hospital or travel hours away.”

Kearney Regional Medical Center President and CEO Doug Koch said the concept for the center began around four years ago.

“It takes a long time to plan these buildings when you build something like this,” he said. “This is well over a $25 million investment into the Kearney community, so we’re very fortunate to see it come to fruition.”