OSU to Add Cancer-Survivor Center
By Dennis Fiely, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
Feb. 6–The sale of $1 wristbands is having a seven-figure impact on Columbus health care.
The Lance Armstrong Foundation — known for its popular yellow “Livestrong” bracelets — today is awarding Ohio State University Medical Center $1.25 million to develop a cancer-survivorship center.
The center “realizes a dream of mine,” said Dr. Charles L. Shapiro, director of breast medical oncology.
The grant will enable OSU to consolidate studies and services and add new ones at its Innovation Centre, 2001 Polaris Parkway.
Shapiro expects the center (yet to be named) to open within a year. The facility will include a treatment clinic, lounge, library and meeting rooms.
With the grant, OSU joins six other cancer hospitals in the Armstrong Foundation’s network, including the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and the Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Hospital in New York City. OSU is the only Ohio hospital in the network.
“We are joining an elite group, with whom we will share protocols and ideas,” Shapiro said.
More than 10 million Americans live with or beyond cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. Of adults who receive a cancer diagnosis today, 64 percent will be alive five years from now.
As more people weather the disease, interest has grown in survivors’ physical, psychological and emotional health.
The city’s hospitals and other nonprofit groups, such as Komen Columbus, provide services and programs for survivors. OSU will join the independent Wellness Community in Dublin as a comprehensive, one-stop shop.
“The community has pockets for programs for specific types of cancer, but people need places where they can access everything,” said Karen Veronica, executive director of the Wellness Community. “That way, they can see what fits for them and design their own recovery programs.”
OSU patients will receive priority at the new center.
But, Shapiro said, “I envision the day when everyone who is a survivor in our community will have access.”
dfiely@dispatch.com
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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