Avera Says Farewell to Plaza 3
Amidst the excitement and preparation for construction of a six-story women’s and children’s tower at Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center, Avera leaders and staff are taking time to reflect on the great care that took place in Plaza 3, before this building is taken down to make room for the 224,000-square-foot addition.
The Plaza 3 building opened in 1990 as the region’s first free-standing comprehensive cancer center. For the first time, all cancer services were offered in one location including adult and pediatric medical oncology and hematology, gynecologic oncology, radiation oncology, chemotherapy, pathology, mammogram services, cancer research and cancer support services. The Avera Cancer Institute name was adopted in 2000.
As expansion continued, Avera planned construction of the Prairie Center to be a larger, more comprehensive home for cancer services.
After completion of the Prairie Center in 2010, this building became home to the Avera Transplant Institute, housing services for nephrology (kidney care), hepatology/liver disease, endocrinology and diabetes care and Avera Dialysis.
“Both staff and patients had strong connections to Plaza 3,” said Ron Place, MD, Regional President and CEO of Avera McKennan.
“Whenever we’re in the position of putting up a new building, sustainability and longevity are the first two things we think about. We want our facilities to far outlast any of us currently here. Plaza 3 stood for 34 years and no doubt would last much longer if not for this unique opportunity to add beds to our campus,” Place said.
Plaza 3 will be taken down with construction equipmen. As crews do this work, they’ll be salvaging whatever they can for reuse and recycling.
“One of Avera’s core values is stewardship, and we’re upholding this value by reusing and recycling as much as we can from the building—including fixtures, furniture, décor and whatever else we can find a home for. Our friends at Journey Construction recently let us know that we should be able to repurpose or recycle nearly 75% of the building,” Place said.
Avera leaders, including the Sisters, hoped to save a large evergreen tree nearby, yet that won’t be possible. So the tree’s lumber will be used for a special and meaningful project yet to be determined. Also before the building comes down, Sioux Falls Fire and Rescue will use it for training.
Plaza 3 medical practices have been relocated to other plazas on the Avera McKennan campus and Avera Family Health Center at Dawley Farm.
Avera Dialysis has moved to 4210 W. 53rd St., a location that allows growth from 22 stations to 36. Avera Dialysis in Sioux Falls serves an average of 100 patients, compared to 35 in-center patients when the Plaza 3 dialysis center opened in 2014. The new location offers easy accessibility and front-door parking.
Kris Gaster served as a cancer nurse and cancer services leader at Avera from 1981 until her recent retirement as Assistant Vice President of Oncology Strategic Initiatives. She led cancer programs when Avera Cancer Institute was located in the Plaza 3 building, and was Assistant Vice President of Cancer Clinics when the Prairie Center was constructed as a new home for Avera cancer services in Sioux Falls.
“When we planned for the Avera Cancer Institute back in 1990, outpatient care was an emerging trend, and this building was a place where patients could get many of their cancer services on an outpatient basis, including their chemotherapy and radiation treatments,” Gaster said. “We expanded on that concept as a community cancer center when we built the Prairie Center. We’ve seen phenomenal growth in cancer services throughout the decades and are proud of the high caliber of care people can receive, close to home, including the region’s only cellular therapy for hematological and solid organ cancers and Gamma Knife, with a full range of cancer specialists. That vision began in this 1990 building. I treasure all the excellent care by our physicians and staff and the lasting friendships made within those walls.”
Similar to cancer care, many patients received lifesaving care through the Avera Transplant Institute. Avera has the region’s longest standing kidney transplant program and the region’s only pancreas transplant program. Through organ transplant, Avera has helped over 1,000 patients receive a second chance at life, and improved quality of life through related specialties.
“With the closure of this building, we have opportunity to look back and appreciate where we’ve been,” said Sr. Mary Thomas, Senior Vice President of Mission at Avera McKennan. “Plaza 3 has housed Avera services well for many years and we honor the many lives touched in this space as we have served patients, their families and our colleagues. We will continue to discern how we’re being called to serve future needs as our community grows.”
