The Covenant Regional Thumb Network (CRTN), a collaborative of five independent Thumb hospitals and Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw have announced a new name for the network, CRTN Health, and the expansion of Covenant Medical Center’s Radiation Oncology Service through the opening of a new Covenant HealthCare cancer center on the campus of Marlette Regional Hospital to be called the CRTN Cancer Care Center.
A ribbon-cutting for the new center will take place 2:30 pm on Friday, February 17, 2023 at 2770 Main St, Marlette, MI 48453. This is a media only event. A public open house is planned for the spring.
With Covenant extending cancer care through the opening of the CRTN Cancer Care Center, much needed oncology services will be immediately available to patients living in Michigan’s “Thumb.” “Thanks to the collective focus of six independent hospitals on providing the best care to patients, Covenant’s CRTN Cancer Care Center is truly the first comprehensive cancer care center located in the Thumb,” noted Dan Babcock, CEO of Marlette Regional Hospital. The 16,260 square foot facility will provide a full range of cancer care for patients including medical oncology, chemotherapy infusion and radiation oncology.
Beginning in December of this year, the cancer care center will start seeing medical oncology patients and will open seven infusion chairs in the newly renovated center. A state-of-the-art Elekta Versa HD linear accelerator will come online in the first quarter of 2023 to provide radiation oncology service for patients from throughout the Thumb.
“We are so honored to be working together to help patients challenged by cancer, and excited to be able to open such a beautiful facility in the Thumb that makes it so convenient for patients to receive the care they need,” stated Sandy Johnson, the director of the Covenant Cancer Care Center.
The Covenant Cancer Care Center team providing care at the new facility includes medical oncologist Dr. Houman Nourkeyhani, radiation oncologists Dr. James Fugazzi and Dr. Mark Zaki, and nurse practitioner Jessica Belill.
All six independent hospitals, Deckerville Community Hospital, Harbor Beach Community Hospital, Hills & Dales Healthcare, Marlette Regional Hospital, Scheurer Health, assisted Covenant HealthCare’s efforts to bring this extraordinary service to the Thumb.
A community-wide open house is being scheduled for the spring.
About CRTN Health
Formerly known as the Covenant Regional Thumb Network, CRTN Health is a network of six independent hospitals, five critical access hospitals located throughout Michigan’s Thumb area including Deckerville Community Hospital, Harbor Beach Community Hospital, Hills & Dales Healthcare, Marlette Regional Hospital and Scheurer Health, and Covenant HealthCare, located in Saginaw.
While the network was officially formed in 2018, the hospitals have been working together to ensure high quality medical care is available to people they serve in the Thumb for two decades. The affiliation relationship of CRTN Health ensures that Thumb communities have an independent hospital close to home that they can continue to depend on for high quality care, and the assurance that should the need arise for more advanced procedures, extraordinary care is delivered through the highly coordinated relationship the Thumb hospitals have with Covenant.
