CARTI Announces Plan to Build CARTI Cancer Center in Pine Bluff

Aug 12, 2020 at 12:16 pm by admin


LITTLE ROCK/PINE BLUFF - CARTI announced its plan to build its fifth comprehensive CARTI Cancer Center in Pine Bluff, bringing its statewide presence to 17 treatment locations in 15 communities. The cancer treatment facility's planned services will include medical and radiation oncology, an infusion suite, imaging, mammography services and an on-site lab. Construction is set to begin in December 2020 and the project is anticipated to be completed by January 2022.

The project will be realized in two phases:

  1. Phase I: Begin Treating Patients at an On-site Modular Building
  2. Anticipated Open Date: December 2020
  3. Ahead of the building's opening, CARTI will start seeing patients at a modular building that will be installed on the construction site. Phase I will include an on-site lab, infusion suite with 12 infusion chairs, patient consults for surgical and radiation, and patient support services, including financial counseling, social workers, nutrition and genetic counseling.
  4. Phase II: CARTI Cancer Center Opens
  5. Anticipated Open Date: January 2022
  6. Phase II will include all of the services of Phase I, plus radiology services, including mammography, MRI, PET/CT, CT and ultrasound, and radiation therapy.

The Pine Bluff medical team will consist of experts representing each of CARTI's cancer specialties. Together, these renowned providers will provide the region's patients and families with a team approach to comprehensive cancer treatment.

The Pine Bluff treatment facility will be near Interstate 530 on a seven-acre tract adjacent to Trotter Ford. This will be the fourth cancer center the organization has launched within the past two years and the largest facility outside of its main cancer center in Little Rock. The facility will employee approximately 30 full-time employees.

CARTI also announced the addition of five new physicians, bringing its team of cancer experts to a total of 38 physicians.


Marian Miller, M.D., Breast Oncologic Surgeon

Dr. Miller served as a breast surgeon and director of the Women's Breast Center of Houston in Houston, Texas, and as a surgeon at Kaiser Permanente in West Los Angeles, California.

She completed a fellowship in breast oncology at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California, and completed her residency in general surgery at Orlando Health in Orlando, Florida, where she was named general surgery chief resident. She earned her medical degree from the University of Toledo College of Medicine in Toledo, Ohio, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

She is board certified by the American Board of Surgery.


Jessica McElreath, M.D., Breast Imaging Specialist

Most recently, Dr. McElreath has served as an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was previously the director of breast imaging at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System in Little Rock, Arkansas.

She completed her fellowship in breast imaging and residency in diagnostic radiology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Science in Little Rock, Arkansas. She earned her medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Science in Little Rock, Arkansas, and a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis in Biology from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas.

She is board certified by the American Board of Radiology.


David Kuperman, M.D., Medical Oncologist

Most recently, Dr. Kuperman is a partner in Van Amburg and Busiek, LLC in Chesterfield, Missouri. Previously, he was an adjunct instructor in the division of oncology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and a staff physician at John Cochran Veterans Administration Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

He completed his fellowship in hematology/oncology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Siteman Comprehensive Cancer Center at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He completed a residency in oncology at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. He earned his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Science in Little Rock, Arkansas, and a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas.


Jaclynn Elias, M.D., Supportive and Palliative Care

Dr. Elias will launch CARTI's first-ever palliative care program, which will provide patients with an extra layer of support specifically targeted at relieving side effects of their treatment. This specialty will be delivered in tandem with other curative treatments.

Most recently, she has served as a palliative medicine consultant at Baptist Health and Practice Plus in Little Rock, Arkansas.

She completed her fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine and a residency in internal medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Science in Little Rock, Arkansas. She earned her medical degree from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, Louisiana, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

She is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine.


Michael May, Jr., M.D., Radiation Oncologist

Dr. May completed his residency in radiation oncology at the James Graham Brown Cancer Center at the University of Louisville College of Medicine in Louisville, Kentucky, where he was selected as chief resident. He earned his medical degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, Tennessee, a Masters of Science in Physiology and Bio-Physics from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

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