Expanded Cancer Care in Mitchell and Aberdeen

Mitchell residents had their first opportunity to meet the area’s new medical oncologist, Kathleen Naegele, DO, at a January open house celebrating Avera Cancer Institute Mitchell’s 15th Anniversary. The event was also a celebration of the installation of a fully digital Elekta Infinity linear accelerator.

The new machine, which is the same model recently installed in the newly-relocated Avera  

  Cancer Institute Aberdeen,  is more precise and features an increased number of leaves and a built-in CT. “Patients can now get the same care here as they could in Sioux Falls, which means they can stay closer to home for treatment,” says Dr. Naegele.

A Chicago native, Dr. Naegele completed her hematology/oncology fellowship and internal medicine residency at Midwestern University in Chicago and recently moved to Mitchell from Kingman, Arizona. She joins radiation oncologist Stephen Dick, MD, and medical oncologist Anwarul Haq, MD, and says she is excited about the collaborative spirit she has found in Mitchell.

“It is a very well-oiled machine with a high level of respect among the physicians,” says Dr. Naegele. “That is not something that you can really know about a place until you get there. You just hope.”

Another milestone for the Cancer Institute in both Mtichell and Aberdeen is the recent installation of new high-tech new chemotherapy chairs. “The new chairs are not only more comfortable but they are equipped with wifi-connected tablets, vibration, and heaters and can be tipped back quickly if a patient has a reaction, which is very important,” says Dr. Naegele.

At the same time, Avera Cancer Institute in Aberdeen doubled its space in January when it  

 moved into the newly constructed Don and Carmen Meyer Center of Excellence. The new facility houses the practices of medical oncologist Richard Conkin, MD, and radiation oncologist Troy Adolfson, MD.