Chris Sutton lives in Lyon County, Kentucky, and for the past several years, getting treated for an extremely rare form of melanoma has meant an eight-hour round-trip drive to Louisville. UofL Health leaders cut the ribbon Thursday on a new facility in Hillview designed to spare patients like him that grind, with the Brown Cancer Center set to open in Bullitt County on September 14.
Sutton, who was diagnosed with his rare melanoma in 2023, has made countless trips to UofL Health’s Brown Cancer Center in Louisville for treatment, describing the journey as a 400-mile round trip, according to WLKY. He said the new Bullitt County center is a first step that will save lives, a sentiment that reflects what health officials describe as a widespread barrier facing rural Kentuckians seeking cancer treatment.
The new two-story facility spans 26,440 square feet in Hillview and includes 16 private infusion and exam rooms, an oncology pharmacy, and a patient resource center. That resource center will also house UofL’s Center for Rural Cancer Education and Research and will provide free wigs to patients undergoing treatment, per the station’s report.
A Phased Rollout Starting With Three Cancer Types
When the doors open next month, the center will begin treating lung, melanoma, and gynecologic cancers. UofL Health plans to expand services to treat all tumor types by November, with blood cancer treatment slated to follow in January 2027, according to the same account…