Astera Health Hosts Tour of Under-Construction Cancer Center in Wadena

Astera Health is on the verge of quite the milestone.

With the grand opening of the organization’s brand new cancer center in Wadena only a few months away, many had the opportunity to tour the brand new facility Friday morning. While the cancer center is still under construction, those invited on the tour got to see and learn what’s right around the corner in healthcare for central Minnesota.

“There’s a lot of excitement in the air when we tour it and our patients are excited as well,” said Astera Health Registered Nurse & Oncology Program Coordinator April Kerkvliet.

“Being able to showcase how our vision and strategies are coming into reality,” said Astera Health CEO & President Joel Beiswenger. “And in the end, it’s about the patients and the communities and their families, about how we can improve their health, improve their experience.”

A report from the Minnesota Department of Health says over 33,000 Minnesota were diagnosed with a new cancer in 2019. This has pushed Astera to prioritize maximizing access.

“To those folks that are suffering a cancer diagnosis and the cancer treatment process, it is a very difficult time in their life. Probably the hardest time in their lives,” Beiswenger said. “Folks [coming to the new cancer center] can avoid travels from 45 to 90 minutes away for those services – traversing big communities and maybe big buildings to something which is much closer to home and hopefully more personable.”

Through Astera’s partnership with CentraCare, the new state-of-the-art facility will provide patients a wide array of services.

“Having more coverage of physicians and advanced practice providers,” Beiswenger said. “From the diagnostic side, with the PET/CT scanner, and on the treatment side, with the radiation oncology unit called the linear accelerator.”

For the Astera Health and CentraCare oncology team, playing a pivotal role in helping cancer patients is all they can ask for.

“I’ve lost several family members and friends recently,” Kerkvliat said. “I’ve seen the devastation that it’s caused and we really want to make sure that we provide the very best care for our patients throughout their cancer journey.”

Astera Health’s new cancer center is expected to open in July this year.