Dear Friends,
Marquette General Health System is the only institution in the Upper Peninsula to offer a Comprehensive Cancer program accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. We have maintained this accreditation for more than 20 years. This means that the Marquette General Cancer Center is committed to maintaining the full spectrum of necessary cancer services at a high level of quality, including education, screening and prevention services, surgery, medical oncology services and radiation oncology.
Marquette General has made arrangements with hospitals throughout the region to maintain all cancer services as close to patients’ homes as possible. For many of these services, this means offering quality care in their own communities. However, the equipment costs for radiation therapy imply a degree of centralization.
Marquette General thus provides this service in Marquette for a majority of Upper Peninsula natives. In fact, more than 20,000 residents of the Upper Peninsula have been diagnosed or treated for cancer by the medical staff of MGHS since 1979.
The current Linear Accelerator in our Radiation Oncology Department is more than a dozen years old. While it was the best available equipment at the time it was purchased, it is now approaching the end of its natural life span. New equipment can offer shorter treatment times for patients and a greater degree of precision to treat cancer.
Marquette General Hospital has plans to provide $2 million, which will help with the necessary remodeling and installation of the new equipment. The Marquette General Foundation has launched a capital campaign to raise $4 million for the cost of a new Linear Accelerator and compatible equipment (CT Simulator) for treatment planning. The latter will also be used for support of the current radiation facility in Iron Mountain (a joint venture between Marquette General Health System and Dickinson County Health System).
MGHS and Foundation trustees, employees and affiliated physicians have already committed roughly half of the money needed for the successful completion of this campaign. We’re now asking all residents of the Upper Peninsula to consider supporting this effort philanthropically to make sure cancer patients from across our region continue to have the best quality health care available without the need to spend weeks far from home.
Thank you for your support of this historic first-ever capital campaign at Marquette General!
Daniel Arnold, MD
Chair, Marquette General Foundation Board of Directors
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