Cancer Center project takes shape

"This is the single best thing I think we can do for patients and the community. Hopefully it will be a legacy I help leave to our community."

This is how Peter Kenyon, MD, medical director of Samaritan Regional Cancer Center, describes plans to build a new cancer center on the hospital campus. Hospital executives and medical staff are currently working on blue prints detailing what the new center will look like.

There are numerous pressing reasons for the creation of a new cancer center. Among them are rising patient volumes and the addition of more oncologists to care for them. There are now six oncologists providing treatment at the center. In addition, clinical staff have identified the need to put infusion services, radiation oncology and medical oncology all in one central location—so that patients and staff don’t have to travel across the hospital campus.

The new Samaritan Regional Cancer Center will eliminate scattered services, enhance healing space, meet a growing community need for cancer care and keep patients close to home for treatment. The current cost estimate for the project stands at $14 million.

Mario Pastega House offers resource for patients and families

The Mario Pastega House on the Good Sam campus is a comfortable “home away from home” for out-of-area patients and families traveling to Corvallis for specialized medical care. The house opened in the summer of 2004 after the Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation completed a successful fund drive to build the facility and establish an endowment to help support its ongoing operation. Multiple opportunities exist for donors to help ensure that everyone who needs the Pastega House has access. For example, donors may purchase engraved pavers to grace the entrance, patio, gazebo and walkways of the guest house. Donations range from $100 for a 4 x 8-inch paver to $1,000 for a 12 x 12-inch paver. Friends of the guest house also may support a night’s stay by donating the $20 suggested nightly fee that some guests may not be able to afford.

In 2010, Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation donors provided for more than 500 nights of lodging at the Pastega House to low-income guests.

To ensure no one is turned away for inability to pay, the Pastega House offers an “Adopt-A-Day” program. For a gift of $517, the cost of operating the house for one full day, you can adopt a day at the house to be named in your honor or in honor/memory of a loved one.

Your generous donation will be recognized in the following ways:   

• Name listing in online Mario Pastega House calendar
• Name recognition on TV monitor at Pastega House entry for the entire day(s) adopted
• Award certificate listing individual name(s) to be honored and the date(s) reserved (makes a terrific birthday gift)
• Annual Mario Pastega House update letter
• Invitation to an annual luncheon hosted by Mario Pastega
• The satisfaction of knowing you are helping an average of 12 people for each day adopted find peace, comfort and relief from stress during one of life’s most difficult periods.  

You can adopt your day(s) by contacting the Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation at (541) 768-6129.

Download the Mario Pastega House "Adopt-A-Day" calendar.