A groundbreaking ceremony was held Thursday morning for a key expansion to the existing Freeman Physician Group of Pittsburgh – Oncology facility. Actual construction to the $14 million expansion began in late summer, pointing to the key role this comprehensive cancer care center will play for Southeast Kansas-based cancer patients once it is up and running.

Between now and late 2026, the existing 4,500-square-foot facility, located at 1201 Centennial Drive in Pittsburg, will top out at nearly 17,000 square feet when completed, more than tripling in size.

Freeman Health System Oncology Physician Dr. Boban Mathew said there’s a simple reason why Southeast Kansas residents need this expansion. It all has to do with age.

“This year, a little over 2 million new cancer cases were diagnosed in the U.S., and the number one factor to develop cancer is age. If you live long enough, you will develop cancer,” Dr. Mathew said, who has practiced in Pittsburg for 28 years. “We are an aging nation, with the baby boomer generation retiring. We have about 45 million people above the age of 65 in the U.S. today. By 2050, that number will almost double to 80 million, so the need for (oncological) care in Pittsburg is only going to rise.

“Our expansion here,” he continued, “will directly meet the needs of this community.”

The building’s medical oncology department will see the current number of chemotherapy chairs double to eight with the expansion. There will also be more examination rooms and much-needed office space built for Mathew’s staff, which includes six veteran nurses with a combined 98 years of experience.  

Also housed inside the new addition will be a state-of-the-art compound pharmacy, able to create customized medications to meet a specific patient’s needs, as well as a top-of-the-line PET/CT scanner, which can detect, locate, and assess cancerous abnormalities, leading to more accurate and speedier diagnoses. Both elements are currently housed in trailers. Once the new building opens, those mobile elements will be removed.

“I’m a little partial to Southeast Kansas, being here over 28 years, and I want to provide the best cancer care for the people here without them having to travel outside of town,” Dr. Mathew said.

Already visible to drivers on Centennial Drive is a huge slab of concrete called “the vault,” in which the walls of this room alone contain nearly 340 yards of poured concrete. In this protective block will sit a new linear accelerator, which uses x-rays to target and destroy cancer cells while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue.

“We were aware of how many patients are affected (with cancer) in Southeast Kansas just from taking care of them in Joplin, and when discussion came up to expand services in Pittsburg I was elated at the possibility,” said Dr. Chance Matthiesen, Freeman’s radiation oncology physician, who is already seeing Kansas-based cancer patients bimonthly in Pittsburg. “This is a day that I’ve been looking forward to for a long time.

“The work that has gone into this expansion over the past several years has really been exciting for me to be part of, and I can only think about how this will be a really great addition to the citizens of Southeast Kansas,” he continued.

By combing medical and radiation oncology services under one roof, Freeman Physician Group of Pittsburg – Oncology will transform into one of the most comprehensive oncology care centers found in the Four States region.

“Patients here will get the same quality of care and access to clinical trials and high-quality resources that they would get at other major academic centers. Our patients often go out for second opinions, and I will say the overwhelming majority end up coming back to their local areas,” Dr. Matthiesen said. “There is known data that says patients who can receive high quality cancer care in their local environment, in their homes, around their neighbors, in their community, have better outcomes. That data is not debatable. We truly want to keep patients here at home.”