Fiscal Year 2022 Unrestricted Donations Making Impact Within JENCC
The Fund Allocation Committee of the June E. Nylen Cancer Center recently helped to determine some ways to put unrestricted donations raised over the last fiscal year to great work within the organization. While some of the unrestricted funds were set aside for strategic priorities and ongoing patient programs and support services, all employees had an opportunity to submit a Request for Funding for an idea that would improve patient care. enhance our programs and services, or expand our mission. A committee made up of employee representatives from each department reviewed and scored all of the requests. The Committee then met and finalized the allocation of funds.
Here are the items approved:
AssistPoint Patient Assistance Program - this is a software program that will interface with our medical record systems and help identify co-pay, grants, and other financial assistance for our patients, reducing the stress of financial toxicity in our patients and helping patients pay their bills with us.
Raising the toilets in our patient restrooms – the toilets in some of our patient restrooms are low and challenging for many of our patients to use. Funds were approved to raise each of the toilets in our patients' restrooms.
Praying Through Cancer Devotional – purchasing a number of these books to have in our patient resources.
Treatment Support Kits – Funding was approved to provide an initial Treatment Support Kit to send home with a patient after their first chemotherapy treatment to help them be prepared for side effects. While our nurses provide extensive education to each patient on their treatment and its side effects, patients are sometimes not prepared when the effects actually start. Other patients do not have the financial means to purchase. The main side effects our cancer patients have from a variety of chemo drugs are low immunity, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, and bruising/bleeding easily. Each Treatment Support Kit contains items to manage these side effects.
Genetic Testing and Counseling Program – Some of our unrestricted donations were approved to fund the cost of providing certified genetic counselors and genetic counseling associates for this program. Approximately 5-10% of cancers have been linked to an inherited gene, higher in some specific types of cancer like ovarian cancer at 20%. Genetic testing within our practice’s patient population leads to more effective cancer treatments, and thus outcomes. Additionally, we can impact long-term diagnosis numbers by offering the opportunity for genetic counseling to family members and the public pre-diagnosis, equipping them with a care plan to address risk factors and ultimately prevent cancer or detect it very early. Currently, we are partnering with Munroe-Meyer Institute in the Genetic Medicine Department within the University of Nebraska Medical Center to provide genetic counseling. Genetic testing is a very valuable strategy for the prevention and early detection of cancer.
Thank you to our donors who invest in our organization, our mission, and in the patients we serve.
An additional thank you to this year’s Fund Allocation Committee for their time and effort in helping us be diligent and putting donations to great work in our organization.