Mercyhealth Cancer Institute

Mortenson recently completed a new, single-story, 20,000-square-foot cancer center addition at Mercyhealth Javon Bea Hospital & Physician Clinic – Riverside in Rockford, IL. Also built by Mortenson, the Mercyhealth Javon Bea Hospital & Physician Clinic – Riverside was completed in 2019 and provides women's and children's medical services, intensive care for all ages, a cardiac center, and is home to the area's only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center. 

The new Cancer Institute centralizes Mercyhealth’s oncology services and is designed around prioritizing the patient experience. The outpatient radiation and infusion treatment center houses a CT room, LINAC room, and sixteen infusion bays lining the east and south walls with large windows overlooking the prairie. The Cancer Institute connects to the main hospital at an existing vestibule on the northeast side of the building and is clad in Mercyhealth’s signature Vetter stone and brick façade for a cohesive look.

The team broke ground in April 2024 with enabling work prior to starting the foundation walls of the building. The Cancer Institute was built into a 25-foot swale along the northwest side of the main hospital, requiring the foundations to be designed as retaining wall. This led to some walls being over four feet thick which could present challenges during curing. Spikes in temperature, or stark differences between the outside air and the curing concrete, can lead to thermal cracking and potentially costly repairs or remediations. Mortenson’s ability to self-perform all the concrete was critical to the success of this process. The team was vigilant with constant temperature monitoring and successfully deployed mitigation strategies as needed so the foundations were completed without issue.

Extensive coordination with the hospital project team and staff has been paramount as the project is situated between critical services like the main ambulance route, helipad for Mercyhealth's REACT helicopter, and the existing hospital where surgeries are being performed within 25 feet of in-progress work. The overall project was complete in April 2025, but the hospital needed the team to deliver the LINAC room two months early in February 2025 so they could relocate and install the LINAC machine from their Rockton campus.

Mortenson is proud to have worked with Mercyhealth on nine projects over the last nine years, including the recently completed Mercyhealth Dixon Clinic and the Beloit Emergency Department Expansion in Beloit, WI.