In a recent letter, Dr. Edward H. Kaplan of Rush University took Gov. Edgar to task for a veto of $1.2 million to the Illinois Cancer Center (ICC). While the Edgar administration recognizes the outstanding work of the ICC, it is clear that its standing as a center was coming to an end. The National Cancer Institute, which funded many of the clinical trials mentioned by Dr. Kaplan, withdrew its designation of the ICC as a cancer information center and, with that, much of its financial support.
Dr. Kaplan incorrectly suggested that Illinois will no longer be in the forefront of cancer research. The University of Kansas Cancer Center, to be designated by the National Cancer Institute as the cancer information center for Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, plans to provide funding to the Illinois Department of Public Health to enable Illinois to disseminate cancer educational material and collect relevant data for national evaluation.
The National Cancer Institute also has informed the state that hospitals, universities, medical schools and other researchers in Illinois are eligible for funding previously received by the ICC for clinical trials.
As a physician at Rush University, Dr. Kaplan should know of Gov. Edgar’s deep commitment to health care in Illinois, particularly for the needy. In 1993, through the Medicaid Provider Assessment Program Gov. Edgar signed into law, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Hospital is expected to receive $26.3 million to help serve Medicaid clients-a 45 percent increase over the previous year!
To live within its means the state must make tough decisions-but these decisions have kept Illinois in the forefront of cancer prevention, education and information, and increased funding to hospitals that serve the poor.
