Longmont Clinic shuts its research department

Longmont Clinic has closed its research department, but much of the research paper trail still lives on.

The former Longmont Medical Research Network gathered information for pharmaceutical trials starting in 1986, before the days of computer “cloud” storage where most data seems to exist these days.

Much of the research information that wasn’t scanned into a computer system over the years still is kept in boxes stored in warehouses, said Jack Campbell, Longmont Clinic’s administrator. The clinic has an obligation to keep the records in case potential issues come up that have to do with the drug trials, Campbell said.

Separately, doctors at…