Mayo announces $200 million expansion of its proton beam facility in Rochester

Mayo Clinic announced Monday it plans to put $200 million toward the expansion of its Proton Beam Therapy Program in Rochester.

The 110,000 square-foot build-out, scheduled to be completed in 2025, will allow Mayo to treat 900 additional patients per year. The expansion will include two new treatment rooms — in addition to the four rooms already in operation — as well as “improved access for patients,” the Clinic said.

Initial work to get the site ready will begin in November, with projects including the relocation of utility tunnels and pedestrian subways. Construction on the building itself will begin in late 2022.

The addition will be located on the east side of the Eisenberg Building and attached to the Jacobson Building — with plans calling for two floors below ground, a lobby level and a first level. The expansion, Mayo said, will be constructed to allow for future expansion of the facility.

Related: Mayo Clinic, with its finances largely unscathed by Covid-19, prepares for major investment across its three campuses

Mayo first opened its Rochester proton beam facility in 2015. The treatment, as described by Mayo, uses “pencil beam scanning, which allows health care providers to deliver precise radiotherapy to cancerous tissue and lower doses of radiation to healthy tissue, subsequently reducing toxicity and negative side effects for patients receiving treatment.” The targeted therapy is often used on patients with tumors located near or within vital organs. 

"Extensive research has proven that proton beam therapy is an effective therapy with the fewest side effects for patients with certain types of cancer,” said Dr. Nadia Laack, chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Mayo. “Mayo Clinic researchers have been involved in more than 300 papers published on proton therapy, and research is ongoing." 

The expansion of the Rochester program marks Mayo’s latest investment in the costly, though effective form of cancer treatment. The Clinic opened a similar facility in Phoenix in 2016, and also has plans to open a 140,000 square-foot, $223 million facility at its campus in Jacksonville by 2026.