By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A new space on the grounds of Mosaic Life Care will provide cancer patients with all of the services they need under one roof.
Mosaic Life Care officials officially opened the doors to the new Cancer Care Center on Tuesday morning.
Mosaic Life Care Oncologist Dr. Rony Abou-Jawde, better known as Doctor AJ, says it's difficult to put into words how exciting it is to see this new facility finally open, after plans for it began back in 2017.
"When you've had several business plans put on hold, and then you start and you finally get started and COVID comes along, and then everything stops, but this administration didn't stop," Doctor AJ tells reporters. "They said we're going to continue, we're going to continue in the middle of everything, so every time we got closer it felt like it was still 10 miles away, so this is truly, truly what I meant by a dream come true."
Doctor AJ says the mission from the very beginning was how to get everything a patient needs in one place to make the experience for the patient a little brighter.
"It's very difficult when you're sick, it's extremely difficult when you have cancer, and then you have to go from one place to another and wait in one place, and wait in another place, here you get everything done in the same facility," Doctor AJ says. "Just a walking distance from one facility to another, medical oncology, radiation, labs, social services, chemotherapy, all in one place."
The new space feautres a spacious infusion room with floor to ceiling windows that overlook the lake and walking trail areas of Mosaic Life Care.
The space can serve up to 200 patients and officially opens for patients on May 9th.
While there wasn't direct involvement, consultation from the Mayo Clinic was helpful in the development.
Medical Director for the Mayo Clinic Care Network Mark Larson says that not many hospitals in the United States offer an integrated cancer center
"This is truly state of the art," Larson explains. "So, to have medical oncology, radiation oncology, spiritual care, massage care, acupuncture care, pharmacy, infusion therapy, even wigs and hair support for those individuals who have lost their hair as part of the cancer care journey, to have that all under one facility is truly fantastic."
Larson believes this new cancer center offers an exceptional amount of care for patients in northwest Missouri.
