On Friday, June 28 Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed the FY25 state budget, finalizing a $15,000,000 state appropriation to Hannibal Regional to build a new cancer center in Kirksville. Since 2022, Kirksville has lacked life-saving radiation oncology services, creating an undue burden on area residents fighting cancer. Hannibal Regional, with the support of many partners, identified this critical issue and now with state support will begin efforts to offer this life-saving care in Kirksville.
Since purchasing the Complete Family Medicine clinics in the Kirksville/Highway 63 market, Hannibal Regional has seen rapid growth in the services they provide, which prompted them to begin conversations in the community about important unmet healthcare needs. Through these discussions, Hannibal Regional quickly identified the pressing need for radiation oncology services for cancer patients in the Kirksville market, which had been discontinued in the summer of 2022. The lack of this life-saving service in the Kirksville community has created an undue burden on hundreds of area residents as they must travel nearly 200 miles roundtrip daily (for 5 days each week, normally 6-8 weeks total) for cancer treatments should they receive a diagnosis that requires radiation oncology. Hannibal Regional identified this as a major disservice to the Kirksville community and began taking steps to invest in this service in Kirksville. Hannibal Regional has been offering compassionate, expert radiation oncology services to the Hannibal community at the Cary Cancer Center since 2003, which reinforced Hannibal Regional’s understanding of what a void Kirksville is facing without these services in that community.
This state investment into the local healthcare of northeast Missouri was led by Senator Cindy O’Laughlin, and supported by others including Senator Rusty Black, and Representatives Louis Riggs, Greg Sharpe, Chad Perkins and Danny Busick. While the state funding is a major injection of resources into this important project, it is not the only step needed to build the cancer center. Hannibal Regional has submitted a full Certificate of Need application in compliance with receiving approval for the major medical equipment over $1,000,000 for the linear accelerator and vault. The state Certificate of Need process will determine if there is an unmet need in the community and how it should be serviced. While there is definitely an unmet need now since Northeast Regional Medical Center discontinued radiation oncology services in 2022, they recently announced they may have intentions of buying a new linear accelerator and offering this service again. Should this happen, the Certificate of Need process will be used to determine what entity is approved to purchase the linear accelerator and meet this need.
For more information on Hannibal Regional and Complete Family Medicine, or questions regarding the cancer center, call 573-629-3577.