SIDNEY — Wilson Health leaders are taking the next step in looking at the possibility of establishing a cancer care center in Sidney.

So said President and CEO Mark Dooley during a series of meetings with Wilson Health staff this week. The meetings were called to inform Wilson health care professionals about the results of recent strategic planning sessions that set hospital goals for the next three years of operation.

“We continue to explore the option to offer comprehensive cancer care services in our community,” Dooley said. “At this time, we are conducting a thorough process to identify the need and community support for this initiative.”

In 2015, Wilson Health partnered with Oncology Solutions to conduct a feasibility study to determine and develop an oncology strategic plan for Wilson Health. This process evaluated current cancer volumes, market size and opportunities to meet the community’s needs. The findings from this study identified a need to provide cancer care services locally, according to a statement furnished by the hospital.

In 2016, the organization will partner with Cramer & Associates to conduct a feasibility study to determine a case for philanthropic support and with Fahlgren-Mortine to conduct a consumer research study to determine the awareness and perceptions of cancer care services in the community, the statement continued.

As for other goals, Dooley said the discussions centered on five initiatives, which he called strategic pillars: people, quality, service, growth and finance.

“We want to be the place where people choose to work, customers choose for health and physicians choose to practice,” he said. “We want to be a leader in improving the overall health of our area.”

Dooley said he’d like Wilson Health to be recognized nationally as one of the top 100 hospitals in America by 2020.

“I’ve been at a hospital that did that,” he said. “It’s achievable.”

Throughout the talk, Dooley stressed that Wilson Health wants to remain independent. He added that the organization needs to strengthen its position as a health resource, so that people connect with Wilson in many ways “and not just think of us when they’re sick.”

The plan calls for more screenings to catch diseases early, developing a comprehensive approach to diabetic care and transitioning physicians into offices in the new professional building named for former Wilson leader Thomas Boecker. The facility is almost finished and the transition will take place in April, May and June.

In the past, hospital leaders have crafted five-year plans.

“But it’s impossible to predict what health care will do in five years,” Dooley said.