Giving Thanks for Longer, Healthier Lives Through the USA Mitchell Cancer Institute
by V. Gordon Moulton

Note: This article first appeared in the November 27, 2008, edition of the Mobile Press-Register.

           As we celebrate Thanksgiving and the holiday season, I find myself reflecting with gratitude on the many contributions our citizens and leaders have made to assist the University of South Alabama in realizing our community’s longtime dream of bringing a comprehensive academic cancer research and treatment center to the Mobile region.

            As a cancer survivor, I am further thankful for the promise that the USA Mitchell Cancer Institute represents for our citizens to live longer, healthier lives.

            For many years, USA’s hospitals and physicians have provided countless citizens with advanced cancer treatment, improving and saving lives.  While we are proud of this contribution, we wanted to do more.  We knew that while the Mobile region has some of the highest incidences of cancer in the nation, many of our citizens were unable to travel far away to receive state-of-the-art treatment available only at an academic cancer research institute.

            For this reason, USA set out eight years ago on a mission to further reduce suffering and loss of life in our community by creating the Mobile region’s first academic cancer research and treatment center.  With the support of a visionary Board of Trustees, the University made a commitment to make this dream a reality. Of course, we knew that we could not do this alone.

            After years of collective effort representing the entire Mobile community, the University recently opened the Mitchell Cancer Institute.  This state-of-the-art facility is the latest important step in a long-term effort to bring the benefits of an academic cancer research and treatment center to our citizens.

            The Mitchell Cancer Institute is dedicated to helping Gulf Coast citizens lead longer, healthier lives through the prevention, diagnosis, and advanced treatment of cancer made possible through the institute’s innovative medical research.  It is the single most ambitious research endeavor in the University's history, and we anticipate unprecedented success in our community's fight against cancer. The ultimate goal is longer, healthier lives for all the people of our region.

            We are achieving these lofty objectives by giving our citizens local access to the nation’s most talented physicians and researchers, state-of-the-art medical technology and equipment, and advanced treatment enhanced through research and clinical trials. This is now being done in a modern, uplifting environment that supports the healing process.

            The University is proud and humbled to be a part of this endeavor.   We are grateful to have been a catalyst in bringing the Mitchell Cancer Institute to our citizens. We are equally humbled by the outpouring of support this initiative has received from our citizens and community leaders.

            To date, the USA Mitchell Cancer Institute represents a total investment of more than $135 million, including a $75 million investment in construction and equipment for this facility.  An effort of this magnitude simply would not have been possible without the moral support and financial assistance our entire community.

            The USAMCI is funded through philanthropic gifts, as well as support from the state of Alabama, the city of Mobile, Mobile County, federal appropriations, competitive contracts and grants, patient revenues, and the University of South Alabama Foundation. 
In this season of Thanksgiving, the University is grateful to the area’s citizens and leaders who helped make this dream a reality. These include:

• The state of Alabama, Gov. Bob Riley, and the Mobile and Baldwin legislative delegations;
• U.S. Senators Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions, U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner and retired U.S. Rep. Sonny Callahan;
• The city of Mobile, Mayor Sam Jones, former Mayor Mike Dow, and the Mobile City Council;
• Mobile County and the Mobile County Commission:  Mike Dean, Steve Nodine, and Merceria Ludgood;
• The University of South Alabama Foundation;
• The Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce;
• The USA Board of Trustees; and
• Our donors and philanthropists.

      The USAMCI has been greatly enhanced by the philanthropic support of the Mitchell family of Mobile – brothers Abraham and the late Mayer Mitchell, and Mayer’s wife, Arlene.  In 2006, the family made a $22 million gift to the University to support the institute, which the USA Board of Trustees in turn named in the family’s honor.   Mayer Mitchell served as a longtime USA trustee and championed the creation of the institute, having survived cancer as a young man with the assistance of an academic cancer research center.
Creation of the Mitchell Cancer Institute is a milestone for the University, the state of Alabama and the entire Gulf Coast region.  It gives people the opportunity to receive exceptional cancer care, close to home.   We ask for your continued support as the institute works toward a simple objective:  longer, healthier lives for the people of the Mobile region.

            The USA Mitchell Cancer Institute stands ready to assist you and your family.     Patients can self-refer by calling the appointment line at (251) 665-8000 or (800) 330-8538.   For more information, visit our Web site at www.usamci.com.