FOND DU LAC (NBC 26) — In Fond du Lac, months of hard work is finally paying off at the SSM Health Cancer Center.
The facility just completed phase one of a $15 million dollar expansion that started back in November.
Nurse practitioner Lisa Michels says the upgrades were desperately needed.
"We service 29 counties in the area," Michels said. "And so with that growth we've had over 30 years we just really ran out of space."
Michels said the treatment bays will jump from 10 to now 25 treatment
bays.
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She says they will also be able to offer an upgraded pharmacy and more cancer treatment than they previously could have.
"We are going to be able to provide a service in which patients that have bladder cancer can get a specific type of treatment here," Michels said.
Jeff Hopper is from St. Peter and is currently undergoing treatment.
He says stepping into the new wing made an immediate difference.
"You know everyone is going through something traumatic," Hopper said. "And the fact that they can come into the new portion and immediately sense a calmness to it is awesome."
For Hopper, it’s both the new space and the people inside that has left an impact on him.
"You get the sense that everybody here is really concerned about you as an individual and not a number," Hopper said.
According to SSM Health, there are still two more phases that need to be completed before the site is fully finished. Which will likely take place in the summer of 2027.
