St. Joseph Hospital radiation oncologists Dr. Michael Harmon, left, and Dr. Join Luh recently consult on a patient treatment plan.
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange made their first foray into health care during the 1918 flu epidemic, when they made house calls to treat flu patients in Eureka.
(Left) Surgical oncology specialist Dr. Ellen Mahoney recently discussed the critical need to bring a new linear accelerator to St. Joseph Hospital with radiation oncologist Dr. Michael Harmon. (Right) St. Joseph Hospital is raising funds to purchase a state-ofthe-art Elekta Infinity linear accelerator.
Murphy’s Markets Salute St. Joseph’s Memorial In June 1912, five Sisters from the Congregation of St. Joseph arrived on the shores of Humboldt County with a singular mission in mind: to go out into the community, identify its most pressing needs, and work to meet those needs. The Sisters launched a ministry in education and opened what is now St. Bernard Catholic School in Eureka. Their altruistic ministry took a turn, however, when during the horrific flu pandemic of 1918 they realized that what the community truly needed was a hospital. In 1920, the Sisters opened St. Joseph Hospital at what was once the site of the old Northern California Hospital (Trinity and F Streets in Eureka). In the 100 years since the sisters arrived in Humboldt County, their timeless mission continues to grow along with our community’s needs. Christian Hill, St. Joseph –
Humboldt County Area Development Officer, is working on one such need – cancer. The Cancer Care Campaign is focused on raising money to help purchase a state of the art linear accelerator for the St. Joseph Radiation Oncology department. “We’re thrilled to bring this level of treatment to Humboldt County. We already have an incredibly talented pool of cancer doctors here in Humboldt, now coupled with this advance in life-saving technology; we can treat most cancers locally, enabling people to receive care close to home.” In addition to the upgrade in equipment, St. Joe’s announced in late 2013 an unprecedented collaboration with Stanford Medicine’s Cancer Institute, beginning another new era in health care on the North Coast. The collaboration gives St. Joseph Hospital cancer patients’ access to
clinical trials as well as a tumor board that includes Stanford staff. As Christian says, “This partnership underscores the tremendous program we’ve had in our own backyard for years. Our staff, along with the physicians in Palo Alto, have lofty goals for this joint effort.” The current linear accelerator equipment has treated over 4,300 patients and has served Humboldt County well. Money raised from the current campaign will help replace one of the two linear accelerators currently in use. Generous community residents and businesses have helped raise close to $1.5 million of the $2 million dollar goal. Along with Murphy’s Market, you too can help by partnering with St. Joe’s to support this technology for the benefit of our entire community. For more information, please contact Christian Hill at (707) 269-4217.
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