Cancer center acts fast to help patient

Going through cancer treatment is bad enough. But one patient at PeaceHealth’s cancer center in Vancouver, Washington, was also just a few hours from living on the streets.

On hearing about the patient’s urgent housing situation, the staff at the center collected enough money within a few short hours to cover her next month’s rent, according to Rochelle White, RN, clinical supervisor in the infusion oncology area.

While her coworkers were taking care of the immediate need, Anne Cowan, MSW, the office’s social worker, arranged with a local foundation, Vancouver Women’s Foundation, to pay two more months of rent. She also set the wheels in motion to secure longer-term housing support.

Rochelle said the patient had just recently completed concurrent chemo and radiation treatment. After shrinking the tumor, “the next step is for the patient to undergo surgical resection” for a particularly difficult type of cancer. “It’s a very tough treatment to go through.”

Thanks to fast, compassionate and generous action by the cancer center team and a local foundation, this patient can focus her energies on healing.