FY23 St. John Cancer Impact Report

Exceptional Care Close To Home

Your impact on Cancer Care at PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center

PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center Foundation

You have our thanks Thank you for your generosity and your giving to support cancer care at PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center. With your help, we are able to meet each patient’s many needs through their cancer journey, including physical, emotional, financial and spiritual.

Charitable support of our Lower Columbia Regional Cancer Center changes lives and brings strength and comfort to cancer patients when they need it most.

We have many patients who need financial or practical assistance, and your donations help them during a very challenging time. Because of you we have new state-of-the-art technology and beautiful, functional facilities. You enable us to provide cancer screening outreach to keep our community healthy. Often times it is difficult to see how your generosity can ripple out and affect the lives of many patients. I see it every day.

With deepest gratitude, Karla Houk, RN, BSN, OCN Columbia Network Cancer Program Manager

You are our partner in compassionate, whole person care Recently Kelli Holverson and Pam Johanson, radiation therapists at PeaceHealth St. John, were about to end their workday and head home when they noticed a patient who had been waiting outside for hours for her son to pick her up. Since neither the mom nor the son had a cell phone, Kelli and Pam sat with the patient for quite some time until her son arrived on foot, near tears, explaining that his car had broken down. The two caregivers helped locate the car and arranged to have it towed to a service facility. They then called a taxi to take the patient and son to the car, and then home.

We are very grateful for our amazing PeaceHealth caregivers, whose caring continues when their workday ends. Between their compassion and yours, our patients know that they do not face their difficult journey alone.

Your gifts provide the “little extras” that insurance doesn’t cover, like comfort care gift bags for infusion patients, or transportation to and from treatment.

Your leadership inspires us as we continue our mission of serving all who are entrusted to our care.

Thank you for helping to make our lifesaving and life-affirming care possible.

Recent Fund Distributions made possible by your gifts 

$54,117 for Neoprobe Console for biopsy procedures

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$27,025 for Smart Curve mammography paddles

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$17,296 for ceiling lift to transfer immoble patients $10,392 for window treatments to improve privacy

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$2,790 for breast cancer educational outreach

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$2,397 for infusion comfort care gift bags

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$5,000 for patient transportation assistance

New Neoprobe Console Because of your support, the care team at Kearney Breast Center is excited to have a new Neoprobe Console available to use with breast cancer patients.

The equipment is used in sentinel node biopsy procedures, which help to determine whether cancer has spread beyond a primary tumor and into the lymphatic system. Thank you!

The Power of Your Giving $119,017

distributed to support excellence in local cancer care in FY21 & FY22 Your heartfelt dedication to the health of your community is evident with every gift you make.

Outstanding Care for the Long Journey Not many can say they have had a 13-year long relationship with their Radiation and Oncology Team, but Eric Nelson has a rare and incurable form of cancer that was diagnosed nearly 20 years ago. Over the course of his disease, he has received over 350 radiation treatments at Lower Columbia Cancer Center.

“You come into the Cancer Center with trepidation, but the staff’s smiles, jokes and laughter soon lift the weight you are feeling,” he said. “All the staff here are really sharp, and they make each patient feel special.”

Eric went on to describe all the little things that the Cancer Center caregivers do that mean so much to him and other patients. He raved about how quickly and efficiently Dr. Choong Kim, our Radiation Oncologist, worked with doctors at Oregon Health & Science

PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center Foundation

University (OHSU) to find the best treatment plan and put it into action when a larger tumor was discovered.

“You entrust these guys with your life, and they really took care of me,” he gratefully reflected.

Eric and his wife Maryann currently drive to the Cancer Center 5 days a week for treatment, about 50 miles round trip each time. If the type of treatment Eric needs was not available at St. John’s, his travel time each day would be doubled, meaning that he would be unable to continue his work publishing his own newspaper and would likely become mentally and physically exhausted, further complicating his disease.

Your support of outstanding local cancer care makes a huge difference for families like Eric and Maryann Nelson.

Thank you!

To learn more about the power of your giving, contact: Cathy Barr, CFRE Interim Executive Director cbarr2@peacehealth.org 360-414-7901

Becky Sprecher, CFRE Associate Development Officer rsprecher2@peacehealth.org 360-414-7909