But there are more signs of hope now compared to three years ago. Having a cancer center in Cincinnati is important because it can provide patients quicker access to world-class experts, more of the latest medical technology, and more clinical trials that test new treatments years before reaching market. The Barrett Center has never lived up to predictions made when it opened in 1988 that it would become the place in Cincinnati to get cutting-edge care. Before Dr. Kenneth Foon becoming director in April 1999, the center had been running for five years with a part-time director. UC's cancer research, which includes millions in grants and about 120 ongoing clinical trials, remains scattered among several departments that don't work closely together.
Cancer patients can get high-end care at several hospitals.
Cancer doctors linked to the Barrett Center work in a world of tangled lines of authority. Officially, the Barrett Center is part of the private, nonprofit Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, which includes the privatized University Hospital along with the Christ, Jewish, St. Luke and Fort Hamilton hospitals. However, the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine names the Barrett Center's director and controls most cancer research in town. For years the goal has been to improve the links between research at UC and local patient care. But progress has been stymied by many factions, said Dr. Foon, who stepped down as Barrett Center director after 18 months in the job.