Changes nearly double costs of Mercy’s planned cancer center

Changes to Mercy Medical Center's planned Destination Cancer Center will more than double the projected cost, an expense the hospital will cover from within its budget.

Mercy released new drawings of the center on Wednesday, Jan. 26, along with a new $24.6 million price tag. The project was estimated at  $10.7 million when announced in August.

One of the biggest changes was adding a third level for future expansion.

“We're building this not only for the present, but for the future, as well,” Mercy CEO Tim Charles said, calling the project a 25-year commitment. “Our intention is to continue to be on the forward edge of cancer treatment for the next quarter-century.”

The cost increase also takes into account multiple links to the main hospital and equipment, furniture and fixtures.

Charles said some donations have been received, but Mercy does not plan a fundraising campaign.

“We have the capacity to fund this project,” he said. “We've been very prudent over the last few years.”

Under the new design, the center, 701 10

^th

St. SE, will wrap around the hospital's Hall Radiation Center near 10th Street and Fifth Avenue SE.

Charles said the discovery of an active, century-old sewer as preliminary site work began also changed the project.

“Building on top of an active sewer is problematic,” he said, so the hospital upgraded the sewer at its own expense and the planned building was moved to the north.

The three-level, 85,000-square-foot center, designed by OPN Architects of Cedar Rapids, will have a primarily glass exterior. Mercy will register the center for LEED certification for its “green” features.

Rinderknecht Construction of Cedar Rapids and Ryan Companies, with a Cedar Rapids office, are also on the construction/design team.

The project will create about 50 full-time construction jobs for the next 14 months.

Charles said hospital positions could be added with an increase in patients. Between 175 and 200 patients are projected to use the center daily.

Hall Radiation Center currently sees about 60 patients per day, with a capacity for 100.

The site will have 185 parking spaces on a surface lot.

Green space will be added where the Oncology Associates building sits at 525 10

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St. SE. That building will be demolished and cancer specialists,  including doctors from Oncology Associates and Radiation Oncology of Cedar Rapids, will work in the center.

Charles said a hospital team visited destination cancer centers in Salt Lake City and elsewhere and talked to cancer patients and their families in researching the design.

Mercy's goal is to bring all components of cancer care under one roof in a regional cancer center.

Chemotherapy rooms will include infusion stations with natural lighting and views of natural green space.

Public spaces include a cancer library, recovery center, family-respite room, healing gardens and meditation space.

The design also includes space for multi-disciplinary clinics where, for example, nurse navigators will guide patients through the treatment process, and patients will be able to meet with different doctors, all in one place in one visit.

Charles said future plans include using part of a building that will be vacated by Physicians' Clinic of Iowa as overnight accommodation for patients and family.

Mercy plans an official groundbreaking for this spring, with completion of the facility scheduled for spring 2012.

PCI is creating its own destination center – a $36 million medical mall that will be built just blocks away at Second Avenue and 10

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Street SE.

Charles said the Destination Cancer Center is a continuation of Mercy's cancer services that started 55 years ago and will help patients battling what has become the state's leading cause of death.

Each year, more than 16,000 Iowans are diagnosed with cancer. In Linn County one person dies from cancer every day.

The facility also will assist in recruiting, Charles said, as the hospital continues its cancer research and contemplates added services, such as brain radiation.