The Roger Maris Cancer Center at Perham Health: Partners for Positive Patient Care
By Missy Hermes, Photos provided
Quality and consistency of care and a staff that knows patients on a first name basis. Perham area residents have long trusted the medical care at Perham Health. The modern, 25-bed hospital includes three primary care clinics close by, and numerous options for people at and beyond retirement including a nursing home, home care and adult day services all available locally. Pharmacy, physical and occupational therapy and imaging are all located conveniently onsite.
Until now though, when a cancer diagnosis occurred, patients had to leave that community comfort zone and travel for treatment. Sanford Health and Perham Health have a partnership dating back nearly forty years, and cancer patients drove to Fargo for treatment. Then, in the fall of 2023, Sanford Health opened a satellite chemotherapy infusion center in Perham, expanding treatment options for cancer patients and families.
The Roger Maris Cancer Center at Perham Health employs a stellar staff of physicians and healthcare professionals. Heading up the cancer center team is oncologist Dr. Mark Gitau who travels to Perham Health twice a month to see patients. Working with him is Nurse Practitioner Shelby Goodman. Shelby and her husband Andrew grew up in the area. He works as a DNR conservation officer assigned to the Perham area. As Shelby says, “we’re both dedicated to public service.”
She attended Perham High School and took advantage of a unique work based learning program that allowed her to become a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) at Perham Living. “I knew right away what I wanted to do,” Shelby says enthusiastically, “and school helped facilitate that and set me up for success.” After starting her career as a nurse, she discovered an opportunity for specialized training at the Roger Maris Cancer Center. She calls the timing, “quite serendipitous.”
Certified in Gerontology and specializing in Medical Oncology, Goodman can be found in the chemotherapy infusion center where each patient receives personalized treatment. The center has seven private rooms and family members can comfortably remain there during the treatment or visit the hospital’s cafe. For patients requiring multiple visits each week, and chemo infusions, the consistency of having nurses and staff that know you is reassuring. The Roger Maris Cancer Center at Perham Health with dedicated staff like Shelby is providing positive outcomes for the community.
