Kettering announces $1.5M donation for cancer center

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

UPDATE @ 10:18 a.m.

Kettering Medical Center says Steve Rauch has “stepped up big time” with a contribution of $1.5 million toward new cancer center.

“It’s an inspiration to me to be their friends and part of this hospital and part of this community,” said Rauch, who operates a demolition company in Dayton.

This donation brings the total raised to $8.5 million of $10 million needed for new cancer center.

FIRST REPORT

Kettering Health Network will host a press conference today to announce a major donation toward the completion of a five-story, 120,000-square-foot cancer center that the hospital network broke ground on last May.

The $49 million facility is under construction on the main campus of Kettering Medical Center on Southern Boulevard in Kettering and is on schedule for completion later this year, according to a hospital spokeswoman, who said the Kettering will also announce the launch the public fund-raising portion of the cancer center’s capital campaign at the press conference.

Construction and initial equipment costs will bring the price tag to $53 million, according to the release.

The cancer center, which hospital officials hope will take its first patients in December, will offer wide range of services, including specialized treatments to fight cancer. Amenities will include a café with a focus on the nutritional needs and tastes of patients with cancer; complimentary holistic medicines, such as medical massage; and a boutique in a serene, spa-like setting that provides access to post-surgical apparel and products designed to help cancer patients in recovery.

“This cancer center is being designed to provide the most advanced patient-centered care in an environment that focuses on healing the mind, body and spirit,” said Elizabeth Koelker, director of the oncology service line for Kettering, when the project was announced. “We have the most sophisticated cancer treatment technology available so that patients do not have to travel out of the region to receive their cancer care. We also have the expertise required to help patients and their families navigate the journey through cancer treatment.”

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