ARKANSAS FIRST LADY HELPS CARTI
CARTI/Searcy 20th Anniversary

Arkansas First Lady Ginger Beebe was among the special guests participating in a celebratory open house event at CARTI/Searcy on August 22 to commemorate the local radiation therapy provider's 20th anniversary.

CARTI/Searcy opened its doors in 1988 and was the first of six eventual CARTI satellite facilities. The Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute opened its original CARTI headquarters in 1976 on the campus of St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center in Little Rock.

Radiation oncologist Cheryl L. Payne, MD and the staff of CARTI/Searcy hosted the anniversary event by serving refreshments and offering guided tours of the facility to community members.

A brief program of guest speakers featured Payne and Beebe, as well as former CARTI/Searcy radiation oncologist Ducote Haynes, MD and CARTI president and chief executive officer Jan Burford.

Payne called the opening of the Searcy facility a milestone in the legacy of CARTI, as well as in the treatment of cancer patients throughout the state of Arkansas.

"By bringing radiation therapy treatment closer to home for thousands of Arkansas cancer patients, the arrival of CARTI in Searcy made treatment options more convenient and practical for patients and their families," explained Payne.

"Most importantly, though, cancer patients in and around White County and throughout Northeast Arkansas would have continual access to the latest, state-of-the art radiation therapy technologies and equipment," said Payne.

"Patients no longer had to go to CARTI in Little Rock, because 20 years ago, CARTI came to them," she concluded.

According to Burford, CARTI/Searcy became a model upon which five more CARTI facilities have been based. Following the Searcy facility's opening in 1988, additional CARTI satellite facilities were opened in: Mountain Home in 1989; Conway in 1996; Little Rock at Baptist Health Medical Center in 1998; North Little Rock in 1999; and on the campus of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 2001.

"In 1988, Searcy and the White County community welcomed CARTI with open arms and a generous spirit," said Burford. "And, in the process, they helped us to grow and develop into what is now recognized as on of the finest radiation therapy treatment networks in the nation."

Beebe and her husband, Governor Mike Beebe, are longtime supporters and volunteers for both CARTI/Searcy and the CARTI statewide network. Governor Beebe is a former member of the CARTI Board of Directors. A founding member and past president of the CARTI/Searcy Auxiliary, Ginger Beebe currently serves as a Director Emeritus on the CARTI Foundation Board of Directors.

CARTI is a nonprofit radiation therapy center with facilities in Little Rock on the St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center, Baptist Health Center and UAMS campuses, and in Conway, Mountain Home, North Little Rock, and Searcy.