Hospitals plan bigger cancer clinic in Sandpoint

Word that cancer services are expanding in Sandpoint couldn’t come soon enough for Katie Littlefield.

“We think that it’s about time and they better hurry up,” said Littlefield, 82, a Sandpoint native who has spent two years shepherding her husband, Gene, 86, to treatment for lymphoma at a nearby clinic.

But with operating hours only two days a week, the North Idaho Cancer Center at Sandpoint is often crowded with folks seeking care, some from as far as Boundary County and Montana.

In 2005, nearly 280 cancer patients from Bonner and Boundary counties had to travel 90 miles or more round-trip for care at Kootenai Medical Center, hospital officials said.

“It’s a long drive into Coeur d’Alene,” Littlefield said. “It’s kind of for the birds.”

By fall, however, patients in Idaho’s most northern counties will be able to receive chemotherapy infusions and injections close to home, five days a week, thanks to a cooperative agreement between KMC and Bonner General Hospital.

KMC officials have agreed to create a nearly 4,600-square-foot cancer clinic within the hospital at 520 N. Third Ave., according to Karen Pearl, KMC spokeswoman.

The project will feature eight infusion rooms, four exam rooms, two doctor’s offices and a fully equipped pharmacy. The estimated cost is between $360,000 and $460,000, said Don Soltman, KMC’s vice president of ancillary and support services. Leone & Keeble Inc., a Spokane contracting firm, is expected to oversee the construction.

Under the plan, KMC will relinquish its existing lease at the Creekside Health Center, 420 N. Second Ave. In its new location, KMC will lease the space from Bonner General, Pearl said.

Many current clinic staff members will move to the new site, but KMC plans to hire several additional professionals, including a medical oncologist and a registered nurse.

Need for cancer services in Sandpoint has risen steadily over several years and more than 10 percent in the past two years, said Carmen Brochu, KMC’s vice president of patient care.

“Patients have to travel sometimes two to three times a week plus a doctor’s visit,” Brochu said in a statement. “We’re trying to bring services to them.”

Sheryl Rickard, chief executive at the Sandpoint hospital, said the project is an important collaboration.

“Providing quality care close to home is the best for the patient and their families,” Rickard said.

Katie Littlefield couldn’t agree more. She hopes the new clinic will be open on schedule next fall.

“If they get in gear, they can make it,” she said. “We need that badly.”