Ellis Fischel Cancer Center

Ellis Fischel Cancer Center, or Ellis Fischel Cancer Hospital, is one of five hospitals operated by University of Missouri Health Care in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's only cancer hospital and the first cancer center west of the Mississippi River. It was the second such institution of its kind in the United States. It became a partner in University of Missouri Health Sciences Center in 1990.

History
The beginnings of Ellis Fischel can be traced back to 1931 when the Missouri State Medical Association created a committee on cancer. Dr. Ellis Fischel a leading St. Louis physician suggested a state-wide plan to control cancer and the building of a State Cancer Hospital. Missouri Governor Lloyd C. Stark, a major supporter of this plan, signed a bill to erect the hospital in 1937. Columbia was chosen as the site of the hospital because of it central location and the presence of the University of Missouri a major cancer research center. The seven-story hospital was built on U.S. highway 40 (later Interstate 70) in 1938. The hospital was expanded in 1975, adding laboratory space, clinic capability, and operating room suites. In 2007 plans are underway to rebuild Ellis Fischel as part of a new Health Sciences Center and University Hospital on the University of Missouri campus.