LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Nearly 10,000 people in Kentucky die from cancer every year. Now, thanks to millions of dollars from the state, UofL Health believes it can cut that number in half.

The first step to expanding access will begin at a new $25 million Center for Rural Cancer Education and Research in Bullitt County. It will be part of the UofL Health South Hospital campus along Interstate 65 near Shepherdsville.

State and university leaders unveiled renderings on Monday and explained the need for the new cancer center. The project was made possible by funding from Kentucky's General Assembly.

University of Louisville president Kim Schatzel said the center will give greater access for patients undergoing cancer treatment outside of Louisville.

"More than 10,000 Kentuckians, folks who we call our neighbors friends and family, die from cancer each year and cancer is expected to increase by 50 percent over the next 20 years. But this center is going to reverse that trend, and we'll change those numbers," Schatzel said.

Kentucky has the highest death rate of cancer in the U.S. Twice as many Kentuckians died of cancer than of COVID during the last three years, and cancer rates are expected to increase by 50% in the next 20 years.

Cancer healthcare costs in Kentucky are $2.74 billion per year, while productivity losses from morbidity and early deaths in Kentucky cost an additional $3.1 billion per year, according to UofL Health.

State Senator Michael J. Nemes said the center will provide research, training and treatment for Bullitt County and the entire state because of the easy access to the location along I-65.

"This is one of those transformational projects that will lead to better health outcomes, some that could mean the difference in life-or-death treatment," Nemes said.

Patients from across Kentucky have relied on the Brown Cancer Center in Louisville for a long time. In the last year, oncologists from the BCC saw patients from nearly every Kentucky county, including more than 15,000 outpatient encounters from South, Central and Western Kentucky.

"Every three weeks I make this long drive," Margie Baylis, a cancer patient from Owensboro said hooked up to machines inside a treatment room at the Brown Cancer Center in downtown Louisville.

WDRB News spoke to Baylis in early March in the middle of her 4 hour round trip from Owensboro to Louisville. The drive is critical to her advanced non-small cell lung cancer treatments, but it is also inconvenient.

"It's a lot to get around anymore," she said, mentioning the long drive and difficulties navigating one-way streets and traffic in downtown Louisville.

Soon, Baylis and many of the 15,000 other cancer patients from rural Kentucky will have easier access to the same treatment from the same medical professionals at the new rural cancer center in Bullitt County.

"I'm excited about it because it will be a one-stop facility," she said, as she wrapped up this life-saving round of treatment. "You'll be able to get everything done at one place." 

Currently, there are no comprehensive cancer centers outside of Louisville and Lexington that offer offer multidisciplinary subspecialist care, clinical trials, access to state-of-the-art screening, and educational and support programs for cancer patients. Those programs have been proven to reduce cancer deaths.

The new cancer center will serve as a network base for clinical trials, enhanced nursing/physician educational programs, cancer screening and outreach with partnering oncologists throughout the region.

Initial plans include space for 20 infusion rooms, five exam rooms, oncology pharmacy, and a diagnostic imaging suite. A research laboratory for specimen processing and research space for data collection will support cancer clinical trials and translational research.

Final design work is underway on the new cancer center, with a groundbreaking expected in the next 12 months. The anticipated opening will be in early 2026.

"When we did this, it was not just for Louisville or Bullitt County, it truly was to serve the Kentucky community," UofL Health CEO Tom Miller said Monday.

For more information on UofL Health – Brown Cancer Center visit: UofLHealth.org/BCC. 

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