Court awards $10 million toward creating cancer center at Floyd County Medical Center

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A Chickasaw County judge has ruled that Floyd County Medical Center will receive about $10 million from the estate of Herman Stille, clearing the way for the hospital to move forward with plans for a cancer treatment center.

The decision ends more than three years of legal wrangling over the Nashua farmer’s will, which had placed conditions on the gift and included the Mayo Clinic as a contingent beneficiary.

In a 16-page ruling issued Thursday evening, District Court Judge Richard Stochl concluded that FCMC met the will’s primary requirement: that the hospital remain independent.

“The bequest of the residual assets of the estate shall be payable to FCMC to build and operate a cancer center,” Stochl wrote. He added that Mayo’s objections amounted to criticisms of the hospital’s plans rather than legal grounds to overturn the gift.

“FCMC is absolutely over the moon with this decision,” said Dawnett Willis, FCMC’s chief executive officer in a statement Friday.

She thanked the court for “honoring what we wholeheartedly believe was the vision of Mr. Stille for a cancer center here in Floyd County. We will steward these precious funds with the utmost care and look forward to bringing these vital healthcare services to our community.”

Stille, a lifelong bachelor with no known heirs, died in September 2020 at age 94. His will, drafted in 2017, left the vast majority of his estimated $10 million estate – primarily farmland – to Floyd County Memorial Hospital (operating as Floyd County Medical Center) for the purpose of establishing a cancer center, so long as the hospital remained independent.

“If the Floyd County Memorial Hospital loses its independent status and becomes part of a major healthcare corporation,” the will stated, “I give … the remainder of my property to Mayo Foundation … to be used for Alzheimer’s disease research.”

Mayo Clinic began legal action in May 2022 to claim the estate, arguing that FCMC’s proposed “Stille Cancer Center” failed to meet other specifications listed in the will – particularly what it said was a requirement for onsite radiation treatment and having an oncologist “on staff.”

FCMC countered that remaining independent was the only legal contingency for receiving the gift. The hospital said it intended to meet the spirit of Stille’s wishes, even if the radiation treatment element was not feasible under federal and state medical resource guidelines and economic realities.

In his ruling, Judge Stochl started off by saying “the status of the parties in the medical community or their connections to this judicial district have absolutely no bearing on the issue before the court. The court has no doubt that both parties would put the funds to good use.”

Stochl acknowledged that Stille’s will also described several desired features for the cancer center, including separate areas for chemotherapy, radiation, and a family gathering space.

However, he wrote, the “highly improbable” ability of the hospital to provide radiation therapy onsite due to regulatory and financial barriers did not invalidate the gift.

“Historically, linear accelerators are not approved in a new service area if radiation therapy is available within a 50-mile radius unless the population can support it. There are four linear accelerators within a 50-mile radius of Charles City: two in Waterloo and two in Mason City,” Stochl wrote.

“Clearly, neither Herman nor (Stille’s attorney Michael) Kennedy knew that requiring a cancer center in Charles City to have space for administering radiation was fruitless,” Stochl wrote.

“This court concludes that if Herman had known that FCMC could not purchase a linear accelerator, he would not have required that space to be available in the cancer center for radiation treatment,” Stochl wrote.

The court also determined that FCMC’s plan to contract with outside oncologists similar to how it operates with contracted orthopedic, cardiology, ENT and other specialists who are given staff privileges, rather than employ an oncologist full time, meets the requirement to have an oncologist “on staff.”

“The court finds FCMC has taken the steps necessary to assure the court that it will have an oncologist on staff,” Stochl wrote.

Stochl also rejected Mayo’s arguments that some of the estate funds might support parts of FCMC’s broader $40 million expansion rather than go exclusively to a cancer clinic, including a pharmacy upgrade and shared entrance with a new clinic.

The judge ruled that those elements were part of a comprehensive, integrated plan that supports cancer care, not misuse of funds.

“A will’s unambiguous language is binding,” Stochl wrote. “The Will provides that the devise to FCMC ‘is contingent on the Floyd County Memorial Hospital being maintained as an independent hospital.’ That language is unambiguous. If FCMC is not independent, Mayo gets the funds.

“This court has concluded that FCMC is an independent hospital. Therefore, the primary contingency for FCMC receiving the bequest is met,” Stochl wrote.

“The court further finds that the will also creates a second contingency requiring FCMC to use the funds to build a cancer center and that there are enough funds to do so. The court must consider if ‘the funds available make’ building the cancer center possible. Again, the answer to that question is yes.”

Floyd County Medical Center has said it will name the new facility the “Stille Cancer Center” in honor of its benefactor, and has already begun developing architectural plans as part of overall construction at the Medical Center.

The estimated cost of the center is around $13.3 million, according to court documents. Hospital officials say they will cover the difference through other funding sources.

Plans for a potential cancer care center that are part of the court record indicate it could offer chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and other oncology services, with arrangements in place to transport patients to nearby facilities for radiation treatment.

The Medical Center’s current hospital and clinic expansion project, expected to be completed next spring, includes a new pharmacy with the environmental and safety systems required to allow it to formulate and handle oncology medications.

“A cancer center here in our community will be life-changing for so many people,” said Willis. “To offer oncology services close to home is an incredible opportunity that we would not have without Mr. Stille. His generosity is truly what will build this facility, and we cannot wait to bring it to life.”

FCMC has been working with local contractors on the design for a cancer center for several years, the FCMC statement said.

“Once those plans are finalized, FCMC will share those exciting updates with the community,” it concluded.

As of Friday, Mayo had not commented on the ruling. The court ordered that Mayo pay the costs of the litigation.

Judge Richard Stochl, in the Iowa District Court for Chickasaw County, issued his 16-page ruling on June 6, with this conclusion:

1. Herman Stille left the residuary of his estate to FCMC to build a cancer center so long as it remained an independent hospital.
2. FCMC is an independent hospital.
3. The funds in the estate are sufficient to allow FCMC to build a cancer center.
4. FCMC will be building a cancer center with the gifted funds.
5. FCMC cannot provide radiation therapy. Herman would not have withdrawn his bequest if he had known it was legally impossible for FCMC to do so.
6. FCMC will have an oncologist on “staff” via joint cooperation with other medical facilities or subcontracting.
7. The bequest of the residual assets of the estate shall be payable to FCMC to build and operate a cancer center.
8. Costs of this action are assessed to Mayo.