Making Cancer Care Accessible
CARTI President & CEO | Adam Head, FACHE
As published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, March 8, 2026
“There is a difference between what the facility feels like in Little Rock and what we have available here,” a woman told me in 2017 as I walked through one of our then hospital-based clinics in Russellville.
“When it comes to healthcare, a lot of people who don’t live in south Arkansas believe the southern border of the state is Little Rock,” said an El Dorado man in 2018 during a town-hall forum we hosted.
When I joined CARTI as CEO in 2017, I knew we, as a non-profit, Arkansas-based cancer provider, offered clinical research trials, leading-edge technology and advanced treatment methods at our Little Rock Cancer Center. Yet amazingly, every detail was intentionally and compassionately designed for those who had heard the unsettling words, “You have cancer.”
“You! Are you the guy?” I heard a very large man yell at me from across the parking deck late one afternoon as he steadily approached. I had been in leadership long enough to readily embrace such questions so I responded, “Yes, I’m the guy.”
“I’ve been wanting to meet you,” the tall man in a ballcap said, smiling and clearly enjoying the cold sweat he had caused me to briefly experience. Laughing in relief, we introduced ourselves and I spontaneously asked, “Do you want to go talk a bit?”
Sitting across a small table in my office, I learned that Eric, 53 at the time, had three daughters, two of them 12-year-old twins, as well as a son months away from getting married. “I have glioblastoma,” he said – a very aggressive form of brain cancer. Removing his ball cap, he revealed a surgical scar on the side of his head. Layered in his cancer journey was a strong faith and the fact that he had been a CARTI patient for seven years after receiving an initial six-month prognosis.
“Right now, I want to make it to Christmas, and if I do, my new goal will be to make it to my son’s wedding in March. I have to make short goals,” he lightly quipped with a smile. Then he leaned in. “Can you imagine what it must feel like to think you might not make it six months?” “No… I can’t, Eric,” clearing the lump in my throat. Then, springing to his feet, “Well, I’ve got to head to infusion.” All I could say was, “Thank you, Eric. I’m so glad I got to meet you today.”
Seven months later, in the summer of 2018, I found myself in a room one Wednesday evening with our physicians and top leaders. We had been asking big questions. What did those facing cancer across the state need us to be to them?
I thought of Eric, the comments from the woman in Russellville, the challenge from the man in El Dorado and thousands of CARTI patients living in rural parts of our state who were thankful to be able to see one of our oncologists close to home but yearned for a future where they didn’t have to still routinely make that drive to CARTI Cancer Center in Little Rock. Our team, supported by our incredible community-based board, was committed to changing this.
What our team also knew from decades of experience was that the vast majority of cancer treatments were now delivered outside the walls of a hospital. Gone were the days when a cancer diagnosis automatically meant hospital admission. For years, CARTI patients undergoing radiation would often make a 30-minute treatment stop on the way to work or the grocery store. Chemotherapy and immunotherapy were routinely delivered in a heated recliner in a room with natural light rather than in a cold hospital room. Routine scans were read by CARTI radiologists and, often, these services could be provided in the Cancer Center on the same day.
Our 175,000-square-foot, four-story space sitting on 37 acres in Little Rock and offering medical oncology, radiation oncology, interventional radiology, advanced imaging, surgical oncology, research and support services had proved something profound: cancer care in Arkansas was no longer bifurcated into the simple categories of “Hospital” or “Clinic.” There was now a third category: Comprehensive Cancer Treatment Facility or, as we like to call it, “CARTI Cancer Center.”
Assessing these realities that summer evening of 2018, I said, “Little Rock doesn’t have to be the only space where patients can access multiple, cancer-related care services under one roof.” Our team agreed and knew we were in the midst of a disruption of historic cancer care norms. Four months later, we opened CARTI Cancer Center in Conway. Then, in 2019, we opened CARTI Cancer Center in Russellville, then CARTI Cancer Center North Little Rock in 2020. More than a merging of cancer care services into one combined space, we now sensed something more profound – a cancer care evolution.
True to our renewed sense of purpose, our Board realigned our Mission Statement: “Making trusted cancer care accessible through compassion, innovation and purpose.” Our team, clear-eyed and resolute, knew many rural south Arkansas communities experienced a disproportionate share of new cancer diagnoses compared to other areas of our state.
In 2021, we opened Phase I of CARTI Cancer Center in El Dorado and completed Phase II in 2024. In 2022, we opened the 30,000-square-foot CARTI Cancer Center in Pine Bluff, and last year, opened our seventh comprehensive cancer center in Arkansas, CARTI Cancer Center in Heber Springs.
What has transpired in the last eight years has transcended what we originally set out to do. Over this period, the number of cancer diagnoses in Arkansas has increased more than 27 percent – the highest recorded percentage increase among all 50 states – yet projected cancer deaths in Arkansas are essentially the same as in 2018. We do not believe this reflects “just more cancer” in our state but rather, more people are now being treated for their cancer. It means more people are surviving. It means more than ever before, cancer is not a death sentence.
We believe having access to the latest in cancer screening, treatment and research should not be defined by one’s Arkansas address. With more than 20,000 Arkansans expected to hear the words “You have cancer” in 2026, we are reminded our work is not done. And so, on our 50th anniversary, it is our honor, more than ever, to steward any gifts we have on behalf of our fellow Arkansans who have heard or will hear those words. It is our Transcendent Purpose.
As I walked through the second floor of CARTI Cancer Center in Pine Bluff last week, I got to shake hands with a 76-year-old gentleman who said, “You see that woman right there?” pointing to the lady in the heated infusion chair a few feet away. “She’s been with me 43 years, and when she was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago, we thought Little Rock was going to be our only option – now we get all we need here.”
I smiled. “That is why we built this place.”
