The Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center – Kearney is set to open in December 2024. It is a 53,000-square-foot facility that will offer comprehensive cancer care to patients in central Nebraska.

Nebraska Medicine joined forces with Heartland Hematology and Oncology in Kearney in late 2021. Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center - Kearney will build upon the years of expertise and trust that Heartland Hematology and Oncology built with its patients and community, led by Cynthia Lewis, MD, and Nick Hartl, MD.

“I am so excited not only to continue the personalized care we have been delivering for 20 years, but we now will be able to offer specialized care and clinical trials, often out of reach to central and western Nebraska and northern Kansas,” Dr. Lewis says.

Construction on the new $52 million center began in 2023. It will offer a range of cancer services, including medical oncology, hematology, radiation oncology and infusion therapy. The state-of-the-art facility will feature additional clinic space, a lab, pharmacy, community rooms and a healing garden. Supportive services will include survivorship programs, genetic counseling and nutrition classes.

For patients like Judy Borden of Holdrege, Nebraska, the center's location is a game changer. Borden, who was treated for uterine cancer in 2022, praised the convenience of receiving care just 30 minutes from home

“It’s just so convenient,” Borden said. “Without the center in Kearney, a lot of people in central Nebraska would have to drive hours for treatment. It would take a lot of time and be more expensive.”

Hematologist-oncologist Julie Vose, MD, says the expansion reflects on the Nebraska Medicine commitment to the needs of its patients and their families in central Nebraska.

“The added space and services will allow us to support all aspects of cancer care, even after treatment has concluded,” Dr. Vose says.

The center will deliver cutting-edge cancer care with the specialized expertise of an academic medical center. Patients will have access to multidisciplinary tumor boards, opportunities to participate in clinical trials and connections to the most advanced cancer treatments available.

While the setting will be new, Dr. Vose says cancer patients in central Nebraska can continue to expect “Serious Medicine and Extraordinary Care” at Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center – Kearney.

“They will receive the same level of high-quality care from their familiar providers while being supported by a team of dedicated disease-specific cancer specialists from the state’s largest academic medical center,” she says. “All close to home.”

For Borden, the care she received made a significant impact on her cancer journey. “I still go back once a week or so and visit some of the people who are now still receiving treatment there. Dr. Lewis has made it such a friendly atmosphere. If it hadn't been for people like her, I don't think my healing would have been as successful.”