The hospital had only 17 inpatients on its first day, but the day marked the fulfillment of Dr. James’ decades-old dream of establishing a freestanding cancer hospital at Ohio State — a dream that took root during his training years in the 1940s. After attending medical school at Ohio State, he spent four years as a surgeon overseas during World War II, and then completed his training at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City (then known as Memorial Hospital).
Inspired by that hospital’s focus on cancer treatment, Dr. James dreamed of bringing the same level of specialized care to central Ohio.
After returning to Columbus in 1947 to join The Ohio State University Hospitals medical staff, he spent the next 35 years convincing community leaders, the state of Ohio and The Ohio State University of the need for a cancer hospital here. After years of fundraising and campaigning, ground was broken in 1984 to build what would become the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute — the adult patient care component of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC) that had been established via NCI designation in 1976.
Dr. James saw his vision become reality in 1990 when The James opened and treated its first patients. Another step in its evolution occurred in 1999 when the university acknowledged local businessman and philanthropist Richard J. Solove — a longtime friend of Dr. James — for his years of support for cancer research at Ohio State by renaming the hospital as the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. Dr. James died in 2001.
Solove died in 2011, but not before seeing the university break ground for construction of a new and much larger cancer hospital that opened in December 2014 bearing the same name. The newer James is a transformational facility that integrates research with clinical care more closely than ever.
Realizing that there is no routine cancer and that every malignancy is uniquely driven by each patient’s biological makeup, the nearly 300 cancer researchers and 200 cancer subspecialists within the OSUCCC – James are national leaders in rapidly developing and delivering treatments that target the molecules and biomarkers fueling individual cancers. Researchers and clinicians collaborate to provide even more targeted treatment options with fewer side effects — offering patients and families greater hope for faster responses and improved outcomes.
Dr. James’ dream of establishing a cancer hospital in central Ohio represented a huge step toward realizing his ultimate vision of a world without cancer — a dream shared today by everyone at the OSUCCC – James.
“Dr. James’ vision and persistence brought into being a hospital that offers hope to countless patients and families from around the world,” says James CEO William B. Farrar, MD, who has been on The James’ medical staff since the beginning. “I feel blessed to have trained with this man (as a resident) and to have worked alongside him for several years. The James is a stirring legacy for a doctor who dreamed of a world without cancer and never stopped believing it will someday come about.”