Cadence Gets OK for Cancer Center

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

According to UsingEnglish.com, that's an American that means something "is very easy indeed."

As a city construction approval process goes, the Cadence Health request to build a $20 million cancer treatment center probably qualifies. Cadence's request sailed through the Plan Commission, City Council Committee of the Whole and landed on the consent agenda Monday, without much of a peep.

According to the summary by Community Development Director Dick Untch Cadence Health sought site-plan approval for additions to the north and south sides of the existing cancer center building. The proposed 25,950-square-foot addition and renovation of the existing building will create a single location for all of the medical services a patient would require in a cancer program.

The new facility would include 17 infusion bays (chemotherapy), 19 exam rooms, radiation therapy services, a clinical laboratory and office space, Untch said.

The results will be "a better patient experience, increased collaboration between clinicians and greater efficiency," said Cadence's Charles Cloutier in a memo to the Plan Commission.

The use is permitted in the Delnor Planned Unit development but required site plan approval because the size of the proposed addition exceeds the size that can be reviewed administratively. Every project that has been approved since the PUD was established in 2003 has been given a number and is called an “Update Plan." The council approved 10th Update to the PUD.

"Staff reviewed the site plan and has confirmed that the proposed development meets the city’s requirements and that the proposed building is consistent with other buildings on the Delnor campus and in the surrounding area," Untch said.

The Plan Commission recommended approval on April 12 and the Committee of the Whole recommended approval on April 23.

Previously, Cadence representatives said the project could break ground by July and construction could be completed in 14 months.