Confluence Health board approves new regional cancer center for NCW

NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON — Confluence Health has received board approval to move forward with a new cancer center at its Hospital Central Campus in Wenatchee, a nearly $60 million project that leaders say will expand and reshape cancer care for patients across North Central Washington.

While the facility will be located in Wenatchee, Confluence Health’s cancer services function as a regional referral resource, serving patients from across Chelan, Douglas, Grant, and Okanogan counties and beyond. For many residents in those communities, Confluence is the only place to receive comprehensive cancer treatment without leaving the region.

The project has completed an initial feasibility study and has now entered the schematic design phase. Construction is expected to begin in November 2026, with the first patients anticipated in mid-2028.

“This project will bring expert care close to home, unify our teams around each patient, and shape our services to meet the real needs of the community we serve,” said Dr. Andrew Jones, CEO of Confluence Health. He said the center is being developed in response to growing demand and gaps in access, and with an emphasis on keeping care local within the region. “With growing demand, gaps in access, and a desire for compassionate, local cancer care, this center is being built not from the top down, but from the community up,” Jones said. “It is our mission to provide local care and having this state-of-the-art care close to where the patient calls home is what our families, neighbors, and future patients deserve.”

Jones added that beyond meeting clinical needs, the project reflects what the organization would want for its own communities. “This is what we would want for our own loved ones, and our community deserves nothing less,” he said. “In addition to meeting a very real need and supporting our teams in their vital work for our patients, it’s also the right thing to do.”

The new facility will be built as an addition to the current Central Campus, to the north and east of the existing tower, and will be delivered through a design-build partnership between AldrichVKP Construction Company and Mahlum Architects.

According to Confluence Health, the project will substantially expand and consolidate cancer services that currently operate across multiple locations. Exam room capacity will increase by 38 percent, the number of medical infusion chairs will grow by 76 percent, and the number of linear accelerator vaults will increase from one to two, effectively doubling radiation treatment capacity.

At the new center, care is being designed around a single, coordinated patient experience, with multidisciplinary teams working together in one place rather than across scattered facilities.

“It is important with cancer care to have a prompt, accurate diagnosis and then to move quickly into a treatment plan, coordinating all of these important moving parts to not only provide the best service to the patient, but to make sure care is timely,” said Dr. Nicolas Kummer, radiation oncology physician manager for Confluence Health. He said distance and fragmentation can create delays that work against patients. “Delays in diagnosis and treatment due to distance is not in the best interest of our patients and their care,” Kummer said. “Having local treatment options alongside where patients receive their diagnosis, and where they will then receive follow-up care, goes a long way to helping close this gap.”

Reducing travel burdens is a major goal of the project, particularly for patients who now travel long distances, sometimes daily, for weeks at a time.

“Cancer treatment often requires frequent visits; radiation therapy, for example, can be five times a week for several weeks,” said Spencer Green, oncology service line director for Confluence Health. “For rural patients, this could potentially mean traveling two to four hours daily for a 20-minute session, which is exhausting and financially draining.”

Green said keeping care within the region makes a practical and emotional difference. “Having this care near a patient’s support from friends and family, not to mention being close to their own home and bed, makes treatment less stressful and helps ensure it is easier for a patient to consistently get that needed care without yet another challenge,” he said. “We want patients to be able to focus on healing, not worrying about travel or having to sacrifice being with their support network in order to make treatment possible.”

Beyond reducing travel, Confluence leaders say the new center is meant to change how patients experience care from diagnosis through survivorship, especially for those navigating a complex regional system.

“Integrating cancer care in this new center will help to consolidate many services, bringing medical oncology, radiation, infusion, labs, and supportive care together under one roof,” said Dr. Ensi Voshtina, cancer care service line medical director. She said this approach reduces fragmentation, shortens wait times, and simplifies navigation for patients and caregivers. “Instead of constantly moving between systems or relearning ways of doing things with different teams, your care is part of one team in largely one location from diagnosis to survivorship,” Voshtina said. “This new cancer center aims to create a sanctuary for patients — a calm place to heal in the tumult of a cancer diagnosis — that streamlines this crucial multidisciplinary care.”

Jones said the facility is intended as a long-term regional commitment, not just a new building in one city. “This support system is in it for the long-haul for our patients and the journey will be filled with familiar, supportive voices,” he said. “Though this new facility will be centered on the patient, they won’t be alone; they will be supported by many, an entire team working together in care.”

He said the goal is a unified regional system rather than a series of disconnected visits. “Things work better when every support system works with unity of purpose as a coordinated team, not a collection of disconnected appointments,” Jones said. “This is comprehensive, compassionate, and community-driven care — exactly what we would want for our own loved ones.”

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media