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Newark Beth Israel Medical Center was presented
with a $125,000 grant from the Avon Foundation at the closing
ceremonies of the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in New York on
October 11th. Accepting
the check on behalf of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center are (center
left) Pamela Rayvid, Grants Manager and (center right) Lucille
Chmiel, RN, MSN, Breast Cancer Advanced Practice Registered Nurse.
The check was presented by Carol Kurzig, President of the Avon
Foundation for Women (far left) and Suze Orman, financial
expert and Special Ambassador for the Avon Foundation for Women
(far right).
Newark, NJ – Newark Beth Israel
Medical Center is the proud recipient of a $125,000 grant from
the Avon Foundation which will help establish a formal Breast Cancer
Patient Navigation Program entitled, “Steering Women Through
Breast Cancer,” for the medically underserved community.
The grant awarded for 2010 represents the third grant received
from the Avon Foundation over the past six years to help support
breast cancer services at NBIMC.
The focus of the grant is on addressing the many barriers to care
from diagnosis to treatment and following post-treatment regimens,
with the concept of continuity and timeliness as paramount. Funding
will support the positions of an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN)
and an Administrative Assistant as well as patient transportation
and education materials.
The APN will function as the Patient Navigator, leading
the multidisciplinary team to coordinate the needs of each patient.
Working with a breast cancer social worker, physicians, nurses
and administrative staff, the APN will navigate the patient through
the many possible steps along the way including: diagnostic testing,
biopsy, surgery, chemotherapy, possible clinical trial participation,
radiation therapy, continuing appropriate follow-up and maintaining
treatment. In addition to ensuring that each patient receives timely
medical treatment, the APN will address patient financial challenges
including obtaining insurance coverage and medication coverage,
psychosocial challenges that exist among the area’s multi-cultural
and racially diverse patients, and ongoing education about care
and the need for lifelong follow-up.
The Administrative Assistant will be multi-lingual, providing support
through knowledge of Spanish, Portuguese and English, as well as
patient scheduling, follow-up and data collection. The goal of Steering
Women Through Breast Cancer is to ensure that each patient
is accompanied on her journey in the most efficient and compassionate
way. Patients and their families will receive education emphasizing
that breast cancer is an illness in which follow up is a lasting
commitment.
Funding from the Avon Foundation is competitive with grants awarded
to strengthen the Avon Safety Net Hospital program that ensures
all women have access to quality breast cancer care regardless
of insurance status or ability to pay. Newark Beth Israel Medical
Center is a safety net institution under the Saint Barnabas Health
Care System, serving culturally diverse and economically challenged
communities in the greater Newark, NJ metropolitan area. The Frederick
B. Cohen, MD, Comprehensive Cancer and Blood Disorders Center sees
more cancer patients than any other hospital in Newark, with 14,800
visits in 2008. The Center continues to see more breast cancer
than any other type of cancer, diagnosing approximately 100 new
women a year and caring for nearly 600 women.
The grant was accepted by Pamela Rayvid, Grants Manager for the
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Foundation, and Lucille Chmiel,
RN, MSN, APRN-BC, Breast Cancer Advanced Practice Registered Nurse,
at the closing ceremonies of the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in
New York on October 11th.
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, a 673-bed regional care teaching
hospital, provides comprehensive health care to its local communities
and is a major referral and treatment center for the northern New
Jersey metropolitan area. With more than 800 physicians, 3,200
employees and 150 volunteers, the Medical Center has over 300,000
outpatient visits and 25,000 admissions annually. The main
phone number for Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, located
at 201 Lyons Avenue at Osborne Terrace in Newark, is (973) 926-7000,
or visit www.barnabashealth.org. For physician referral information,
please call 1-888-724-7123.
Date: October 14, 2009
Contact: Lisa Blumert
Public Relations
Phone: (973) 322-4921
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