Healthy investment.

• Position: EASTERN REGION - Brief article - Statistical data

A $30 million cancer center in New Bern will bring more specialized care to eastern North Carolina residents through a partnership between Carolina-East Health System and Chapel Hill-based UNC Health Care. Expected to open within three years, the center will bring Carolina-East's cancer services under one roof and give patients local access to UNC oncology specialists. The center will offer clinical trials and other treatments for which patients now must travel to the Triangle area, Executive Director Dawn Peele says. The drive from the CarolinaEast hospital in New Bern to Chapel Hill is about 280 miles round-trip. "While our cancer-care capabilities have traditionally been exceptional and leading-edge, our program has been very fragmented and gaps have existed." The New Bern hospital will finance construction costs, and its foundation will help pay for the project, says Ray Leggett III, Carolina-East President and CEO. The center is expected to create an undetermined number of...