ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. – The Hardin Memorial Health Foundation (HMHF) Board of Directors approved a $28,000 request to create a new Cancer Resource Center at the HMH Cancer Care Center on Robinbrooke Boulevard in Elizabethtown. The board, during its August meeting, unanimously approved the request to construct, furnish and equip a location where cancer patients and their families can find information, support and resources they may need.
HMH Assistant Vice President of Cancer Care Services Nancy Bowles and former cancer patient, HMH volunteer and Elizabethtown City Attorney D. Dee Shaw made the request, calling the center a valuable and needed service.
Shaw, a breast cancer survivor, has advocated for the center since she first sought treatment at HMH.
“I looked at what other hospitals offer patients, and I knew we could do better,” said Shaw. “A resource center like the one we will create not only provides information, but it will help cancer patients know that they are not alone in their journey.”
Bowles agreed and emphasized that all services at the resource center would be available to both patients and the general public at no cost.
“We have approximately 900 new cancer patients each year,” said Bowles. “They along with family members, friends, caretakers and even coworkers can take advantage of the resource center and have access to educational resources, as well as wigs, hats, scarves, turbans and more.”
HMH Foundation Chairman Joe Prather called the investment a “must do.”
“Our entire Board was honored and humbled to help cancer patients and their caregivers. All of us and our families and friends have been touched by cancer so this decision was easy, especially when we saw how rapidly HMH’s cancer program is growing”, said Prather. “The HMH Foundation exists to add extras that improve HMH’s care and funding this resource center is a great way to do just that.”
Part of the Foundation’s funding came from money raised at April’s HMH Foundation Purses, Pumps and Prevention. The dinner, fashion show and marketplace featuring local boutiques at the Historic State Theater raises awareness about cancer prevention and funding for specific HMH Cancer Care Center projects.
The Foundation raised more than $12,000 at the event for the resource center.
Prather praised the support from the annual Purses, Pumps and Prevention event and encouraged other community leaders to consider contributing to the HMH Foundation in support of the HMH Cancer Care Center, too.
“There is so much good we can do for HMH patients with everyone’s support,” Prather said.
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