“From this day forward, no Arkansan should have to leave the state to receive the finest radiation therapy.” That was the declaration Edward Rensch made the day CARTI opened its doors in 1976. And as the nonprofit marked its 50th anniversary last month, its mission has remained remarkably consistent with the inaugural executive director’s vision, its guiding principles continuing to echo that dream.
“Our founders created CARTI with a bold vision: to bring state-of-the-art radiation therapy to Arkansas,” says Dr. Matthew Hardee, medical director of radiation oncology and fellowship-trained radiation oncologist. “From a single cobalt-60 beam to our now much more advanced treatment options, it remains a cornerstone of our care and is available at CARTI Cancer Centers across the state. It’s a privilege to be part of a team that not only delivers on that promise made in 1976, but expands on it every day.”
Adam Head, current CARTI president and CEO, sees a clear thread running through the nonprofit’s storied trajectory.
“This original commitment really remains the backbone of our identity today, and even is a part of our mission statement, which is making trusted cancer care accessible to every patient we serve through compassion, innovation and purpose,” Head says.
The First Era: A Reputation of Excellence
Head divides CARTI’s history into three distinct chapters, beginning with a 35-year foundation built on specialized radiation oncology.
“Before CARTI was established in 1976, radiation therapy, which is a critical service component for many people going on a cancer journey, was largely unavailable in Arkansas, forcing patients to forgo treatment or ultimately leave the state for care,” Head says.
This gap spurred several health care leaders to found the Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute as an independent, nonprofit, non-physician-owned organization, a structure it retains to this day. From the beginning, Head says, CARTI was “focused on bringing the highest quality cancer care to those facing cancer in Arkansas.”
Initially, the organization was dedicated to bringing unparalleled radiation oncology care to patients during those first three and a half decades. While still headquartered in Little Rock, CARTI steadily grew, with new clinics opening in Searcy (1988), Mountain Home (1989) and Conway (1996).
“CARTI really developed a reputation of excellence in cancer care during that time,” Head says.
The Second Era: The Full Spectrum of Care
CARTI’s second era began in 2011 during what Head describes as a “tectonic shift in our story.” Moving beyond solely providing radiation oncology care, CARTI added medical oncology, surgical oncology and radiology.
“We essentially assembled the best talent from various oncology specialties to provide a comprehensive care experience for patients, ultimately culminating in 2015 with the opening of CARTI Cancer Center in Little Rock, so that patients can access all of these services under one roof,” Head says.
Hardee points to how the approach developed during this time continues to be crucial for his patients.
“Navigating a cancer diagnosis is daunting,” he says. “It’s why CARTI offers access to the full spectrum of care — from treatment to support services — within a single coordinated network. Our one-desk experience, as we often call it, combined with the close collaboration between our providers, is designed to ease the journey for patients and their families.”
Joe Hall, a dedicated CARTI greeter who has earned the title of “the singing valet” through his spirit-lifting patient care, has been a CARTI employee since 1985. Through his many years with the organization, Hall has had a unique front row seat to CARTI’s early days and progress. Hall pinpoints the addition of CARTI’s comprehensive cancer center in Little Rock as one of the most standout milestones he’s witnessed during his tenure.
“We started out on a small campus, and we grew into this beautiful location. That has been a major progress,” Hall says.
The Third Era: Breaking the Distance Barrier
Head joined the leadership team in 2017 just as CARTI was poised to enter its third and current era. In 2018, the nonprofit made the “radical” decision to decentralize its model with plans to open six cancer centers across the state in addition to the flagship center in Little Rock.
“The majority of cancer care — including clinic visits, lab results, chemotherapy or immunotherapy, radiation oncology, ongoing scans and screening — needs to be accessible and close to home, or many people facing cancer, especially in a rural state like Arkansas, will just forgo care altogether,” Head says.
Before making the shift, he spoke with many patients who had to travel hours for treatment.
“We had to look at that. We had to square up with that and say, ‘Okay, what can we do? Because while what we have available in Little Rock is amazing, how can we now make this kind of care available in many other places in the state?’”
Head defines this transition as an identity moment for the organization, a moment that clearly followed CARTI’s founding goal as a guide — that every Arkansan should have access to cancer care. Since 2018, CARTI has opened six additional cancer centers: Conway (2018), Russellville (2019), North Little Rock (2020), El Dorado (2021), Pine Bluff (2022) and Heber Springs (2025).
It also opened the CARTI Surgery Center in Little Rock, the first cancer-focused surgery center in the state, in 2023. Hall highlights the surgery center expansion as another major moment of progress that serves patients in a more comprehensive way.
“The surgery center has really helped people,” Hall says. “Now they don’t have to go out to a different hospital to do the surgery, but have the surgery done at CARTI, and then go next door to the building itself and see the doctor and get their labs and radiation treatment.”
The Present: Serving Central Arkansas & Beyond
In 2026, the services offered in central Arkansas are a reflection of every era of CARTI’s history. Patients living in and around the metro have easy access to leading-edge medical radiation and surgical oncology, interventional radiology, clinical research trials, imaging, breast care and urology, as well as an array of specialty services including audiology, cancer genetics and risk management, dental care, dietetics and more.
Due to its decision to decentralize its services, CARTI now offers comprehensive cancer care across the state.
“Our focus for the last eight years has been trying to transform care in many other areas, especially in rural Arkansas,” says Head, noting its impact today is truly state-wide. “We currently serve more than 60,000 individual patients annually across seven regional, comprehensive cancer centers.”
Head predicts the expansion of these comprehensive hubs across the state will continue to increase the number of patients CARTI serves.
“Our patient numbers only continue to grow as cancer incidence rates increase. Those are connected, because the more accessible we are to patients, the more that number is going up because that means we’re getting to people earlier,” he says.
“They have more of an opportunity for a good prognosis, more of an opportunity for a treatment plan that can be of maximum benefit to them. And so, accessibility means early detection, and ultimately improving survivorship and patients’ quality of life.”
Serving the Whole Patient
CARTI has also expanded to offer what Head refers to as cancer-adjacent services.
“We believe in patient-centered care,” he says, “care that covers before diagnosis to well beyond treatment.”
Some services are focused on early detection for patient families like screening and genetic testing. Others take a more holistic approach via dietary education, speech language, audiology and urology.
“We try to offer services and programs that our patients have asked for. The reason for so many of these services that we’ve added is that someone who has been on a journey asks, ‘Do you have someone who can provide this? Do you have this program?’” Head says. “That ultimately has driven us to treat more aspects of a journey and surrounding a journey.”
Serving Patients & Families
Beyond screening and genetic testing, CARTI has built robust supportive services for its patients’ families.
“A cancer diagnosis is really unlike any other in health care,” Head says. “And I would say we often spend as much time with a patient’s family, who often is their support system through the journey, as we do the patients themselves.”
The CARTI Foundation, a separate nonprofit that supports CARTI, fully funds a program known as The Bridge.
“It’s a patient family support center offering comprehensive support services, both in person and virtually, all designed to come alongside families and alleviate stress in the journey,” Head says.
The Bridge offers cancer education, financial support, counseling, pastoral care, genetic testing, patient transportation, family accommodations and more.
Social services are another standout aspect of The Bridge’s resources, as well as yoga and cooking demonstrations for patients and family members to learn how healthy habits can help throughout their journey.
The Future: Breaking Boundaries
Looking to the future, CARTI’s focus is on its groundbreaking research teams.
“We truly believe that we’re at the cusp of doing some phenomenal things with research,” Head says, “things I would say that haven’t been done in our state before, and, I would venture to say, haven’t been done in most of the country before. So we’re pretty excited about that.”
And according to Head, that forward motion will still mirror its beginnings.
“In a large scale way, what we have the privilege to do is redefine what’s possible in cancer care. And what we’re seeing is that we have radically expanded the accessibility, through CARTI Cancer Centers and locations around the state. We’re able to diagnose cancer earlier, and that can be absolutely life changing for Arkansans, especially in some of the most rural parts of the state where care has been either historically non-existent, or, in best case, fragmented. We’re trying to really change that.”
An OnGoing Legacy
For Hardee, CARTI’s character is his team’s guide.
“For more than a decade, I’ve witnessed how CARTI continually strives to do more for our patients and their families. Every year, we are growing with purpose. ‘Making trusted cancer care accessible’ is more than just a mission statement, it’s our strategic roadmap, helping fulfill our legacy of ensuring no Arkansan must go without treatment.”
Hall follows a similar guiding light that has kept him at CARTI for 40 years and counting.
“I didn’t plan on staying this long, but the love of CARTI has kept me here,” he says. “There’s no other place that shows so much compassion and generosity and just genuine concern for each other. That motivates me to get up and to see the smiles on my patients’ faces when they walk through that door. I think of them every morning.”
For Head, CARTI’s pursuit is perennial, a throughline from day one to the next 50 years and beyond.
“I would hope that CARTI’s ongoing legacy is that we stewarded well what we’ve been given,” he says, “that we were willing to face some of the toughest challenges in cancer care that have always plagued our state, and instead of accepting what has always been, we said, ‘Let’s do something about it.’”
CARTI by the Numbers
50 years making trusted cancer care accessible
60,000+ patients served annually
18 locations across the state including seven regional, comprehensive cancer centers
1st cancer-focused surgery center in Arkansas
1,150+ team members
60 board-certified, oncology-focused physicians
PHOTOGRAPHY
JASON MASTERS