The project is a collaboration between Memorial Medical Center and Essentia Health, a health care provider based in Duluth, Minn. Essentia Health has been providing cancer care services on the MMC campus since 2002. For the past several years, the two health care organizations have been in ongoing discussions about how they could collaborate to bring expanded cancer care services to residents of Ashland and the surrounding area.

“We have done extensive research, and the need for additional services, especially radiation oncology, is significant,” said Jason Douglas, chief executive officer of MMC, in a statement. “We’ve talked with local physicians and everyone agrees that this investment will greatly benefit cancer patients from our region who will no longer have to drive hundreds of miles to get the services they need.”

Boldt Construction of St. Louis has been chosen as contractor for the project with Kahler Slater of Milwaukee serving as architect.

The new cancer center will offer many of the same services provided at Essentia’s Cancer Center in Duluth, Minn., including infusion therapy, radiation therapy and clinical trials as well as the STAR Cancer Rehabilitation Program, a survivorship program and educational resource center.
The new facility will be housed in a brand new building that will be located adjacent to MMC and Essentia Health-Ashland Clinic. Oncologist Dr. Mihailo Lalich told the Ashland Daily Press that when the idea was first conceived to create an advanced cancer treatment center, the idea was to create a place that would eliminate the disruption caused by sometimes-daily trips to Duluth.

Dr. Mihailo Lalich, who moved to the region last year and has been providing cancer care in Ashland, Hayward and Spooner, will serve as the medical director.

“This is a highly specialized project because the building will house linear accelerators, but we hope to take full advantage of our local workforce,” Douglas said in a statement.

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Events of the day included a celebration for the hospital’s 120 years of history and care. Highlights of the ceremony included speeches by hospital leaders, elected officials and a parent highly involved in the new building’s design. Attendees were given refreshments and opportunities for photos. The Akron Children’s Doggie Brigade made an appearance as well, as did Air Bear, Ohio’s first medical transport helicopter dedicated to pediatrics.

The critical care tower, which will be located near Locust and Exchange streets, is part of the Building on the Promise project. This $200 million endeavor will focus on transforming the hospital’s campus. The tower will house several critical care departments, including a neonatal intensive care unit, an emergency department, an ambulatory surgery center and several rooms for other hospital programs.

The goal of the tower construction project is to create more efficient care processes and make better use of space in order to increase the quality of patient outcomes. The flexibility of the space will foster the hospital’s future growth as it continues its tradition of excellent family care.

Grace Wakulchik, the hospital’s COO, stated that the flexibility built into the tower’s design will prepare the hospital for potential changes in the future. The neonatal intensive care units are being designed so they can be converted to pediatric intensive care units or general patient rooms if necessary.

Akron Children’s Hospital has been dedicated to community involvement from the beginning of the project as well. Hospital officials brought parents in to discuss various elements of design as the tower plan was being developed. Numerous obstacles were circumvented before construction on the project even began as parents raised questions with project managers.

The high level of cooperation between the community and hospital employees was evident in the design workshops held in a local warehouse. The donated warehouse space was used as a makeshift foundation upon which a life-size cardboard model of the tower was constructed. Hospital employees and families were able to walk through the model and test the layout of the space before design plans were executed.

Boldt Construction developed this method of testing out proposed design plans. This process — Integrated Lean Project Delivery (ILPD) — not only narrowed the margin of error and allowed any necessary changes to be made prior to the beginning of construction, but also provided an opportunity for community members to bond with employees at the hospital.

KLMK Group, the onsite project manager, is eager to get involved with the project as well. Bill McMahon, president and COO, said in a recent press release, “We are extremely excited about the groundbreaking of the new critical care tower. This facility will enhance the quality of care that Akron Children’s provides and we are honored to be a part of the process.”

The new tower will be a 368,735-square-foot structure standing seven stories tall, and is expected to open in 2015.
 

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