Roger Maris Cancer Center
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Built by the Community for the Community
During the 1980s, people from across the region contributed generously to help build the Roger Maris Cancer Center. They envisioned a special kind of place. A place where people could get a high level of cancer care, without having to drive hundreds of miles. A place where the heavy burden of cancer might be lightened by the support available to individuals and their families. A place where a helping hand is never far away. Learn more about the dedicated care team at Roger Maris Cancer Center.
In 1990, thanks to $5.5 million in gifts, the dream became reality, as the Roger Maris Cancer Center opened its door, establishing itself as the region's most comprehensive facility dedicated to cancer care. Learn more about the mission and vision of the Roger Maris Cancer Center.
A Tradition of Hope
There is no medicine like hope…
no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful
as the expectation of something better tomorrow.
- O. Marden
Roger Maris was a fighter. In 1961, he fought the odds and set a new single-season homerun record—a record that would stand for more than three decades. But the biggest fight of Maris' life did not take place on the baseball diamond, and it involved an opponent he could not even see—an opponent called cancer. In 1985, Maris lost his fight with the deadly disease, but his legacy of hope lives on at MeritCare Roger Maris Cancer Center.
Recognized nationally for its innovative programs, highly trained staff and research in cancer care, MeritCare Roger Maris Cancer Center has earned accreditations from such leading organizations as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the American College of Surgeons and the American College of Radiation Cancer. As a member of the Association of Community Cancer Centers, the Cancer Center adheres to several high standards that define what a community cancer center is and underscore what it means to provide comprehensive care.
The baseball world is only now beginning to fully appreciate the legacy Roger Maris left it. But for the thousands of men, women and children who seek treatment and support at the center that bears his name, the Roger Maris legacy is something they've appreciate daily.