LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- UofL Health announced a $3.8 million investment Thursday to its Medical Center Northeast that will allow patients at the Brown Cancer Center to get results of their radiation or scans within hours.

Doctors said in a news conference Thursday that the final piece of their vision for the center will give it all the tools to treat patients from across the state.

One of those patients, Fran Nett, receives chemotherapy at Medical Center Northeast for a rare form of stage 4 liver cancer. Although there's no cure, Nett believes her treatment there has extended her life.

"They originally just gave me a year, and I'm over that already," she said.

Dr. Jason Chesney, director and chief administrative officer for the UofL Health Brown Cancer Center, said they'll now offer everything in east Louisville that they do downtown. 

"This facility means a lot to the patients who live in eastern Jefferson County ... because it's so accessible," he said Thursday. "We have CT imaging and PET scanners and MRIs and ultrasounds, along with breast cancer screening equipment, all in the same place as the sub specialists who just focus on one type of cancer."

The expansion also means no more long waits after CT Scans. Chesney said patients can come their for treatment, follow-up appointments with their doctors, get scans and then have oncologists analyze those scans the same day.

"When we started offering infusion services at Medical Center Northeast in the fall of 2020, it was the Brown Cancer Center’s vision to make this a comprehensive cancer center," Chesney said in a news release Thursday. "Everything that we offer downtown, we wanted to do right here in a convenient location for patients who live in this area and who travel from all over the Commonwealth to seek expert cancer care."

UofL Health said Medical Center Northeast now offers each of the following services:

  • Diagnostic services including MRI, CT, PET scan and ultrasound
  • Mammography breast cancer screening and diagnostics at the new Breast Care Center, which opened in March earlier this year
  • Private infusion rooms overlooking a tree-lined pond
  • State-of-the-art oncology pharmacy
  • Multidisciplinary clinics focused on sub-specialty cancer diagnoses including blood cancers, breast, colorectal, endocrine, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, gynecologic, head and neck, lung, sarcoma, and skin/melanoma
  • Radiation therapy
  • Blood Cancers, Cellular Therapeutics and Transplant Program
  • National Cancer Institute and industry-sponsored clinical trials of the most promising cancer drugs
  • Resource Center offering a variety of therapies and oncology comfort items including massage therapy, music therapy, counseling services, scarves, hats, wigs, etc.
Brown Cancer Center at Medical Center Northeast

The UofL Health Brown Cancer Center at Medical Center Northeast. July 6, 2023. (WDRB Photo)

Nett believes having everything under one roof has given her more time with her family.

"I know I want extended time with my family ... with my children and grandchildren," she said. "And so if I have to be hospitalized or it has to take additional time, it's easier for them to manage their households as well as looking after me as well."

To make an appointment or refer a patient to Brown Cancer Center, call 502-562-HOPE (4673).

Copyright 2023 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.