During a brief program, Lakewood President and CEO, Lisa Bjerga; Lakewood Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Christine Albrecht; Lakewood oncology patient, Sandra Thompson; Mandy Heffron, representative of Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach; and Dr. Wade Swenson, Lakewood oncologist shared their thoughts on groundbreaking event. Dr. Swenson had this to say: Community-based care is rare; community-based care in rural Minnesota with excellent leadership and a good workplace culture is even more rate, so this is a unique opportunity to show the world how to deliver world-class cancer care in a community setting. Going forward, we have a lot of potential to build on the rural cancer care model we’ve already developed at Lakewood, and it will, I hope, provide a model for the rest of the country to follow.
Since 2022, Lakewood’s oncology team and services have grown exponentially. Dr. Wade Swenson joined the Lakewood team in September of 2022, with nurse practitioners Alyssa Manning, Mariah Neiman and Jessica Nybakken joining in December 2022, March 2023 and November 2023, respectively. Dr. Emily McGovern is set to join the team in September 2024, and Dr. Aquino Williams will follow in September 2025.
With the growth in provider coverage, comes the need for additional space. The cancer center is being built to meet these growing needs, which will also allow Lakewood to add new services not previously available to patients in the area.
The 19,270 square foot addition will be located off the southwest corner of Lakewood’s Staples clinic and will include a dedicated reception and waiting area. The center will also include 14 infusion bays, 10 medical oncology and 2 radiation oncology exam rooms, a procedure room, in-house PET/CT, and a linear accelerator, used for radiation treatments. Oncology case managers will be located within the new space for easy access to patients.
Photo: Lakewood medical providers dug in and threw the first shovels full of dirt during the Lakewood Cancer Center groundbreaking. Providers representing oncology, family medicine, urology, long-term care, emergency medicine, and obstetrics/gynecology were present.