On Tuesday, October 1, 2024, Hannibal Regional took another successful step in their journey to offer radiation oncology services in Kirksville through the construction of a new cancer center. Plans to construct a new cancer center include the purchase of a new linear accelerator which requires Certificate of Need approval from the Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee. On Tuesday, Hannibal Regional presented their Certificate of Need application and the facts regarding the lack of cancer care in the Kirksville community to the Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee. Upon hearing the testimony, which included two local Kirksville residents who shared their personal stories of having to leave Kirksville for cancer treatment and other basic healthcare needs, the Committee voted unanimously (with one member abstaining) to approve the Certificate of Need. Hannibal Regional is appreciative of this Committee recognizing the significant void in cancer care which has left residents in this area without radiation oncology care for two and a half years. Hannibal Regional’s commitment to bringing radiation oncology care back to Kirksville has never been stronger, and this CON approval is the next step in making this new cancer center a reality
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. While recently Northeast Regional Medical Center announced their intentions of bringing a used linear accelerator into the market and offering services again, Hannibal Regional and the community have asserted that local residents deserve high quality, accessible care that would be best provided through new technology, including a new linear accelerator to offer radiation oncology. The approval of Hannibal Regional’s CON for this project brings the Kirksville community one step closer to accessing quality compassionate care close to home in Kirksville.
For more information on Hannibal Regional and Complete Family Medicine, or questions regarding the cancer center, call 573-629-3577.