UVM cancer center leaders ask Vermont for $1 million to support NCI designation bid

Rick Page, dean of the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, and Dr. Randy Holcomb, director of the Vermont Cancer Initiative, told the House Committee on Health Care that the university is asking the state for $1 million a year to help secure National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation.

Page said the designation matters because of the “excellence that this represents and the opportunities that it offers,” and he urged lawmakers to support the center’s application, planned for submission in fall 2026. The university and UVM Health Network have already provided substantial internal funding, Page said, but state support would demonstrate a broader commitment the NCI looks for in applications.

NCI designation signals sustained research, education, community outreach and clinical-care capacity, the presenters said. Dr. Holcomb described four pillars guiding the center’s work—research, education, outreach and clinical care—and highlighted recent advances: research on melanoma, recruitment of faculty studying the microbiome and engineered bacteria for cancer detection, a trial using circulating tumor DNA to tailor adjuvant colon-cancer chemotherapy, and outreach aimed at increasing screening in rural counties.

Holcomb said the center brings extramural research funding of roughly $20 million to $25 million annually and cited a commonly used economic estimate that every extramural grant dollar can have a 2.5x multiplier; using that framework he estimated a potential economic impact of about $60 million for Vermont. He also pointed to program-level results: a statewide effort to increase lung cancer screening has raised screening rates by 33 percent and the center is expanding recruitment and training efforts for oncology specialists who will practice in rural communities.

Specific proposals the presenters described to lawmakers included expanding a rural oncology fellowship (the program received ACGME approval to expand and will add fellows beginning in July), a “lab on wheels” mobile science lab for rural high schools (the center has invested about $100,000–$150,000 and already secured a van), expanded primary-care support lines staffed by oncology nurse practitioners, and tele-nutrition services to supplement a statewide shortfall of dietitians (the presenters said there are about 2.4 dietitians supporting ambulatory cancer patients relative to approximately 5,000 new cancer cases annually).

Page and Holcomb sought a $1 million annual state appropriation. Page said that last year the center requested $5 million per year for five years; some committees advanced a $1 million figure but it did not appear in the governor’s budget. “A cancer center designation will have a positive impact on every resident in the state who might be at risk of or have cancer,” Page said, adding that designation would also help recruit and retain physicians across Vermont.

Lawmakers asked about how much the state must contribute to influence an NCI decision. Holcomb and Page said there is no fixed statutory dollar that guarantees designation and that other states commit widely varying amounts; Page noted large states may contribute $20 million annually while smaller states typically commit less. They said the NCI evaluates the totality of institutional, system and state support rather than a single threshold number.

Committee members asked about palliative and hospice care integration, access and appointment wait times. Holcomb said patients known to have cancer are typically seen in the center’s clinics within two weeks and described an upfront navigation program that schedules necessary testing so treatment decisions can proceed without delay. The presenters said palliative-care clinicians co-manage many patients with oncologists and that the team tracks hospice enrollment timing as a quality measure.

The presenters requested legislative consideration of the $1 million appropriation to strengthen the center’s NCI application, expand statewide programs and sustain services that target rural counties. They said the UVM Health Network and the Larner College of Medicine already provide major institutional support and that state funding would be additive and signal long-term commitment to the NCI.

The committee followed with questions; the presenters said they would provide written materials summarizing the proposal and program details.