When Park Nicollet set out to design its new cancer center, it sought input from those who would be impacted most – patients. Today, patients receiving care at the new Park Nicollet Frauenshuh Cancer Center often feel indebted to those who shared their insight and vision.

“Families want the best for their loved ones – the best care, the latest technology and a state-of-the-art facility,” says Mark Wilkowske, MD, medical director at Frauenshuh Cancer Center. The new center offers all that. Plus, it was specially designed to help improve delivery of patient care.

Patient-centered care
“Many places say they offer patient-centered care,” Dr. Wilkowske continues. “But we take this approach to a new level, where everything is literally brought to our patients. It makes so much sense, and yet it is unique.”

In the past, like at most clinics, patients checked in at a reception desk, sat in a waiting room and then moved to another room to see their doctor. When they needed lab work or treatment, they ventured to new areas or sometimes new buildings, repeating this process over and over. Our patient-centered care allows patients to avoid all this.

When patients enter our new center, they are greeted by a concierge and escorted to a private, comfortable room. This is where everything takes place: nurse evaluations and doctor exams – even blood work, treatments and scheduling follow-up visits.

“Cancer and its treatments often rob people of energy,” Dr. Wilkowske explains. “By bringing everything to our patients, we help them conserve energy for healing and things most important to them. They are often relieved to discover that their visits are no longer so taxing.”

Surroundings promote healing
Patients and families also appreciate the center’s well-designed environment. Amenities include a garden room, which has a wall of windows overlooking a therapeutic healing garden. This tranquil oasis has a calming effect and helps patients reduce anxiety and blood pressure. The center also has a chapel, a meditation space, a resource library that lends out laptop computers and an attached parking ramp.

Patients find encouragement from the “wall of hope” displayed throughout the center. These walls display life-sized photos of cancer survivors and their inspirational words of hope. This creative and inspiring concept was initiated by the center’s patient advisory board.

To help patients and their loved ones find their way around the center, patient rooms are divided into color-coded “neighborhoods,” each with its own care station. Each neighborhood also has a large, comfortable family room, which patients can use when they have several family members joining them for office visits or treatment, or when they and their doctor need to have difficult discussions.

We also offer “fast-track” care, so patients who need only an injection, infusion or lab work can get in and out quickly. “In our building planning sessions, many patients shared with us that they would like to receive treatment in the privacy of their own rooms. Others welcome the opportunity to visit other patients or move around,” Dr. Wilkowske says. “Our new center offers patients both options.”

The center also has a comfortable meeting room for classes and support groups, which are especially beneficial to new patients, but also appreciated by patients coping with ongoing care. To learn more, read, “Fighting cancer as a family.”

Teamwork fosters communication
A team approach is crucial to patient-centered care, and the new center makes it easy for all team members to work and communicate together. This includes medical, radiation and surgical oncologists, nurses and many different therapists – psychotherapists, music therapists and others. The center also has its own pharmacists, chaplains, researchers, social workers and hospice care providers.

“Research suggests that half of all Minnesota residents will be diagnosed with invasive cancer at some point in their lives,” Dr. Wilkowske continues. “But thanks to our new center, along with earlier detection and improved treatments, we will continue to help people live longer and better with cancer than ever before.”

To learn more about the new Park Nicollet Frauenshuh Cancer Center, call 952-993-3248 or visit parknicollet.com/cancer.