At the celebration event for the opening of the Helmsley Center in Pierre over the weekend, chairs of the community-based Helmsley Center Dollar for Dollar Match Challenge announced the campaign has successfully raised $2.5 million.
Avera St. Mary’s Foundation director Kellie Yackley says together, generous donors and the Helmsley Charitable Trust are contributing $12.5 million toward this $30 million project.
Radiation oncologist Dr. Daniel Tackett says for the first time radiation cancer treatment will be offered in Pierre.
Tackett says the digital linear accelerator machine offers enhanced imaging and a full range of radiation treatments.
Avera St. Mary’s President and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Mikel Holland says cancer care options provided at the Helmsley Center reduce or eliminate the travel burden for patients and their caregivers.
Additional funds raised going forward will be placed in an endowment fund for future cancer care needs in Pierre.
Other specialties housed in the 57,000-square-foot Helmsley Center include orthopedics and podiatry; physical medicine and rehabilitation; interventional pain medicine; dermatology; ear, nose and throat; urology; and specialty outreach clinics. The center is equipped with telemedicine equipment for access to specialty visits through Avera eCARE®.
Features and amenities include the Riverstone Bistro, two healing gardens, a multicultural room, and a meditation room decorated with stained glass from the decommissioned Catholic Church in Worthing, S.D., donated to Avera by the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls. The main floor also features 120 green Amazonite stones within the floor to represent Avera St. Mary’s Hospital’s 120 years of service.
Pictured left to right in front of the donor recognition panel at the entrance of the Helmsley Center are: Mikel Holland, MD, Avera St. Mary’s President and CMO; Kellie Yackley, Director of Avera St. Mary’s Foundation; Walter Panzirer, Trustee for the Helmsley Charitable Trust; Karl and Joan Adam, Campaign Co-Chairs; Todd Forkel, President and CEO of Avera St. Mary’s and Aberdeen St. Luke’s; and Bob Sutton, President and CEO of Avera Health.
