All it took to lure Dr. Mark Stavas back to his hometown was a vision.
Stavas, who grew up in Lincoln and attended both Creighton University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, was working as a professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, when he got a call about seven years ago asking if he'd like to be involved in the effort to bring a cancer center to Lincoln.
Stavas didn't hesitate, giving up a job at a top-tier academic medical center to help lead the charge to bring what today is called the April Sampson Cancer Center to fruition.
The center, a collaboration between Cancer Partners of Nebraska and Bryan Health, officially opened about two weeks ago near 40th Street and Rokeby Road.
Stavas and his Cancer Partners colleagues have been seeing patients in that time, and Bryan hopes to have its services up and running by the middle of the month. A public open house is set for April 13 from 1-4 p.m.
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On Wednesday, he marveled at the work it took to get to this point.
"It took a lot of baby steps to get to where we are now," said Stavas, a radiation oncologist and palliative care specialist with Cancer Partners.
For Bob Ravenscroft, system vice president and chief marketing officer for Bryan Health, the journey has been even longer.
He remembers when the process started more than a decade ago and the long journey since then, talking to patients, raising money, coming up with plans and completing construction.
"It's been a long journey," he said. "That's probably the best way for us to describe it."
That journey is now almost complete, and it's bringing a level of cancer care to Lincoln that it's never had before.
The $45 million, 140,000-square-foot facility is providing cancer patients in Lincoln with a one-stop shop for nearly all of their care.
"What patients will find here is what they told us they wanted," Ravenscroft said.
That includes having all specialists in one place so they can schedule all their appointments in one day and not have to trek across the city or out of town.
It also includes rehabilitation services, mental health services, and ancillary services, such as a spa and wig shop.
And it means having the newest, state-of-the-art equipment to provide cutting-edge treatments.
In its half of the building, Cancer Partners provides radiation therapy, chemotherapy and other treatment. On the Bryan side, patients will get diagnostic tests such as X-rays, MRIs and CT scans as well as preventive screening tests such as mammograms.
At the same time, though, the spaces are designed to be inviting, with soft colors and art featured throughout from both local and nationally known artists.
"We wanted to create calming, safe spaces for the patients, where it doesn't feel like a hospital," Stavas said.
Another thing that makes it not feel like a hospital is the setting. The center sits on 10 acres, with another 19 acres available for future expansion. The center's large windows look out onto wooded land including a pond.
The land was donated by the Sampson family, which owns Sampson Construction, and the center is named for April Sampson, who died of breast cancer in 2016.
Patients seem to appreciate the new digs.
"It's a game-changer for the patients," said Ryan King, a 50-year-old Lincoln man who is undergoing treatment for Stage 4 lung cancer.
You wouldn't know it by looking at him. King, who said he smoked for 25 years, now does triathlons and completed an Ironman, the most grueling form of the sport, about a year ago.
He said he especially appreciates the mental health services available at the center.
"Mental health is huge," King said. "The mental game of cancer is hard."
"You don't have a bad day everyday, but you do have them," he said.
King said he also appreciates being able to complete all the things he needs to — doctor's visits, scans, treatment — at one place and often in one visit.
Bryan and Cancer Partners are hoping that convenience will allow more people to remain in Lincoln or come from elsewhere to get treatment. Currently, about half of the 9,000 people from Lancaster, Gage, Saline and Seward counties who are treated for cancer each year go to Omaha or somewhere else to get treatment.
But Stavas said he's already seeing people coming back to Lincoln.
He said the center especially appeals to older patients because of its convenience and ease of access.
It is also appealing to doctors from around the country.
Stavas obviously came to Lincoln in part because he grew up here, but he said the new center is attracting doctors who have trained at places like Harvard, Yale, the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic and even Oxford university in England.
"So these are really top-tier cancer centers in the U.S, and they're coming here because of the vision," he said.
Stavas said the addition of doctors bringing new specialties means patients not only get top-notch care, but they also will get access to clinical trials and academic studies.
Ravenscroft said the center has been a huge boon for doctor recruitment in the city.
"It's remarkable the credentials that people are coming here with," he said.
Directions 2024: Projects are building a better Lincoln
Bryan Health’s long-awaited $45M cancer center is one of many new developments across Lincoln set to open this year. Together, these projects are building a better city. Take a look.
The $45 million, 140,000-square-foot April Sampson Cancer Center located near 40th Street and Rokeby Road is set to open in March.
A new Casey's, plans for a car dealership and lots of new rooftops near Lincoln's 40th Street, Yankee Hill Road and Rokeby Road show the city's march toward the South Beltway.
The proposed Downtown Music District centered around 14th and O streets will see a series of improvements over the next two years aimed at bringing more people to the area.
The number of fitness centers in Lincoln have grown exponentially in the past year, with gyms both large and small popping up around the city.
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Creative Collabs Collective is Lincoln’s only collaborative, self-service storefront. It has no employees, no cash registers and no closing time, and customers can shop any time day or night.
Last year was the second-best since at least 2007 for apartment building permits in Lincoln, but both permit and sales numbers declined for single-family homes.
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More than a half dozen new coffee places opened their doors last year, including new chains coming to Lincoln and local and national chains adding locations.
Creative perks and benefits, like on-site child care, flexible schedules and tuition and loan remission, are just some of the ways Lincoln companies are working to keep and attract employees.
A commercial development that includes a yet-to-be named large retailer is among commercial and residential projects transforming Air Park in northwest Lincoln.
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The Journal Star invited businesses and other offices celebrating an anniversary divisible by five this year to share their history with readers.
More restaurants opened than closed last year in Lincoln, although it was a bit of a light year for both.
Throughout each year, representatives of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce take part in events to mark new businesses, expanded businesses and ground-breaking ceremonies.