Ellis Fischel Cancer Center - History

History

The beginnings of Ellis Fischel can be traced back to 1931 when the Missouri State Medical Association created a committee on cancer. Due to the lack of facilities, the first cancer hospital was a roving hospital that cared for cancer patients of all ages in hospitals across the state. A plan was conceived for a centrally-located hospital in 1937. Dr. Ellis Fischel, a leading St. Louis physician, envisioned a state-wide plan for the control of cancer, which included a State Cancer Hospital, equipped with the latest facilities for treatment, staffed by specially trained physicians, with provision for scientific investigation into the causes of the disease, and satellite diagnostic tumor clinics established around the state. Missouri Governor Lloyd C. Stark, a major supporter of this plan, signed a bill to erect the hospital in 1937.

Columbia was chosen as the site of the hospital because of the central location and the presence of the University of Missouri, a major cancer research center. The seven-story, 104-bed hospital was built on U.S. highway 40 (now Interstate 70) in 1938. In 1975 Ellis Fischel was expanded in 1975 to increase laboratory space, clinic capability and operating room suites.

Ellis Fischel Cancer Center joined University of Missouri Health Care in 1990. All inpatient services were moved to University Hospital; outpatient services, such as radiation clinics and screening services, are still located at the facility off of Business Loop 70. Currently construction is underway to rebuild Ellis Fischel as part of a new facility on the University Hospital campus.

After funding was cut from the Missouri State budget, University of Missouri curators decided in May 2010 to float a bond issue for $31 million dollars to pay for the new Ellis Fischel construction.