Construction actually began June 3 on the $10.6 million building project, which will be an extension of the Radiation Oncology Department on the east end of the campus near the Emergency Department entrance.

The project will add 8,000 square feet and remodel 2,000 square feet of existing space. The number of infusion rooms will expand from eight to 13 larger “suites” and clinic rooms from four to six, said Taylor Taylor, cancer center administrator.

With more space, the regional cancer center will look to add a third physician, Taylor said.

The center will provide increased access to care, state-of-the-art treatment technology and improved amenities for patients.

AMANDA SHELAST, president of Marshfield Medical Center-Dickinson, shows a video virtual tour of plans for the regional cancer center being built on the east side of the hospital in Iron Mountain. MMC-D had a ceremonial groundbreaking Monday for the project. (Betsy Bloom/Daily News photo)

Marshfield pledged to make $26 million in capital investments over five years — including construction of the regional cancer center — when the former Dickinson County Healthcare System joined MCHS in February 2022.

Both Marshfield Clinic and Dickinson officials said the regional cancer center was a priority given the number of cancer patients already coming to the hospital from throughout the Upper Peninsula and counties just to the south in Wisconsin — 60 different zip codes within the past 12 months, Taylor said. Many have to be referred elsewhere for specialized treatment.

“Patients have been having to travel for care, and we want to be able to offer that here,” said Teri Wilczek, chief development officer for the Marshfield Clinic System Foundation.

“Marshfield understood the need for it and supported it,” added Amanda Shelast, MMC-D president.

Local contractor Gundlach Champion has been hired to build the center. Project Manager Peter Dupuis said they now are working on the parking lot, then in mid-July will begin the concrete foundation, in August steel erection, September sidewall and wall enclosure and October the rubber roof.

AN ARCHITECT’S RENDERING shows the planned regional cancer center under construction at Marshfield Medical Center-Dickinson in Iron Mountain. It will be at the east end of the campus near the Emergency Department entrance and includes 8,000 square feet of new construction. Another 2,000 feet of existing space will be remodeled. (GROTH Design Group)

The goal is to shift to interior work Nov. 1, Dupuis said. He estimated the center would be finished by the end of May. The company has about 75 to 80 people working on the project, though due to space only 25 to 30 can be on site at a time.

Marshfield Clinic Health System serves Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula with more than 1,600 providers. Primary operations include more than 60 Marshfield Clinic locations, 11 hospitals, Marshfield Children’s Hospital, Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, Security Health Plan and the Marshfield Clinic Health System Foundation.