OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington is adding a $10 million cancer center. The move follows the August exit of OSF from the Community Cancer Center in Normal that used to be a joint venture with Carle BroMenn. 
"It's very difficult today to be able to run just a standalone cancer center. That's really what the community cancer center was because it couldn't really connect fully to either system. And today the best treatment evolves through that connection," said Lynn Fulton, president of OSF St. Joseph.
Fulton said treatment protocols differ from institution to institution, making it difficult to coordinate care.
"Building our own center allows us to be connected to our program in Peoria so that patients in Bloomington get the benefit of the full breadth of services," said Fulton.
The Bloomington center will eventually link to OSF's new $250 million Peoria Cancer Center that is expected to open in 2023. Fulton said not everyone will need proton therapy or other advanced methodologies, but access to clinical trials and a specialist network will provide several options.
Video conferencing, she said, will reduce the need for travel.
The program begins with the use of a mobile unit that contains a Halcyon Radiation Therapy system. The permanent site for the cancer center is expected to open in the summer of 2021 on the main level of the OSF Center for Health.
The Community Cancer Center in Normal now operates as part of Carle BroMenn.
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