Bryan Health Unveils Plans for $45 Million Comprehensive Community Cancer Center on its Future South Campus

On Wednesday, Bryan Health announced details for a new $45 million, 140,000 square foot comprehensive community cancer center in South Lincoln to centralize cancer care under one roof. This site will become a future south campus for Bryan.

“People in this region deserve a leading-edge, progressive cancer center that is focused and designed around the patient,” said Russ Gronewold, president and CEO, Bryan Health. “At Bryan, we reflect what the community needs. People have really stepped forward and said, ‘we want this to happen.’ Nothing could be more evident than a generous gift of land to build this facility.”

John Sampson, president of Sampson construction and his daughter, Cori Vokoun, vice president, Sampson Construction donated 28.8 acres of land near 40th and Rokeby Road in south Lincoln for the project. Their wife and mother, April, lost her life after a battle with breast cancer.

Comprehensive Care Under One Roof 

“To address the journey of health care, particularly when you have cancer, is a very soul-searching item,” said Sampson. “Right now, families who have been affected by cancer deal with fragmented care, not by the fault of any doctors or medical groups. It’s simply the reality of the situation. Getting this care under one roof is going to be so huge that generations to come will expect it as an everyday thing. It will be so refreshing and uplifting to folks beyond their imagination today.”

In Lancaster, Saline, Gage and Seward counties, nearly 9,000 people receive cancer treatment each year. Almost half of those patients seek care outside Lincoln. A comprehensive community cancer center uses the same treatment protocols as National Cancer Institute (NCI) facilities while allowing patients to receive care close to home.

The Bryan Cancer Center will be located near 40th and Rokeby Road in south Lincoln, just north of the future south beltway. The state-of-the-art facility will offer advanced technology and treatment with a healing, comfortable environment. Bryan’s approach to cancer treatment will honor the highest-quality, protocol-driven care available using a multi-disciplinary approach.

• Treatment
  • Clinical trials and new treatment options
  • Treatment planning with evidence-based national guidelines
  • Rehabilitation and therapy gym
  • Genetic assessment and counseling
  • Specialty pharmacy
• Care
  • Nurse navigators to guide care
  • Palliative care services to ease discomfort and transitions
  • Wig fitting and styling, breast prosthesis services and cancer-sensitive apparel
  • Social workers
  • Care monitoring and quality improvement
• Counseling
  • Mental health
  • Spiritual care
  • Financial
  • Nutrition

“The medical community in Lincoln is very unique. Physicians here know each other. However, care can still be fragmented,” said Dr. Nathan Green, oncologist, Southeast Nebraska Cancer Center. “The Bryan Cancer Center demonstrates our commitment to provide state-of-the-art care for our patients. It proves that physicians are willing to come together and collaborate to do the absolute best thing for our patients. That does nothing but improve their care and experience.”

Donating the land is a way to not only give back to Bryan, but to the entire community, Vokoun said.

“I think my mom would be really proud of my dad and I for this vision and working with Bryan to make it a reality. She would have really appreciated that this facility will make it better for everyone else in her shoes because it’s a really tough road. Anything you can do to make the road a little less rough, she would be happy about that.”

For more information on the Bryan Comprehensive Community Cancer Center, visit www.bryanhealth.org/new-cancer-center.