Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/976458
PATRONS | Spring 2018 3 NEW STEPS TOWARD HOPE AND HEALING hen I consider the impact of our community's gifts on Torrance Memorial Medical Center, I think to myself, where do I even begin? ousands of people contribute to the care provided to our patients. I can tell you about the day-to-day kindness of patients to each other, as they form fast friendships in the waiting room prior to their radiation treatments. And about a patient and family returning years later, to bring their sweet Labrador as a pet visitor to our staff and our patients under treatment. And about a patient with head and neck cancer, who formed a new support group to help the next generation of patients get through difficult treatments a little more easily. I can talk about our employee and community "ambassadors" who give regularly to the hospital to make new therapies possible. I can tell you about the hours and hours spent by our nurses and office staff, above and beyond their regular duties, comforting and counseling patients, coordinating care and insurance, making sure our patients are on the right road (sometimes literally). And I can tell you about the enthusiasm and energy with which our radiation therapists, dosimetrists and physicists greet the advent of amazing new technologies that allow us to target malignant cells more and more precisely. And then I think about these gifts multiplied many times, as expert and compassionate care is delivered in every area of the hospital, supported by gifts of many kinds from thousands of people. Some readers may have already heard about our radiation oncology department's wonderful TrueBeam linear accelerators. We brought our second TrueBeam online about a year ago. Now every patient on radiation treatment at Torrance Memorial is benefiting from the extreme precision and fine imaging capabilities of these state-of- the-art accelerators. ey have increased our ability to cure cancer, control symptoms and limit potential adverse effects. But we are always looking for the next step. What new treatments, technologies and approaches to cancer care are around the corner? Extraordinarily generous gifts like those from Priscilla and Donald Hunt make those next steps possible within our particular department, and also for our entire cancer treatment program. Now we can thank them again for their support of the Hunt Cancer Institute. e Hunt Cancer Center will be the name of a beautiful new building, but really it's the name of a group of people committed to providing the best care possible for our friends and neighbors who are battling cancer. e Institute will provide even greater coordination of care between specialties. It will bring our new nurse navigators together. It will reduce travel time and logistical issues for patients receiving both chemotherapy and radiation at the same time. And it will support cutting-edge research so there can be a constant stream of new anti-cancer therapies available to our patients. We're already functioning like we're under one roof. We already have a sense of common purpose and a common focus on the care of our patients over and above any other concern. Being in one space will help us think and talk and work together even more closely. It's something I've been hoping for since joining Torrance Memorial in 2000. Our new relationship with Cedars-Sinai is another "next step" and a different kind of gift. I'm so grateful to Craig Leach and Sally Eberhard, and dozens of other committed leaders, for all the work and diplomatic skill that went into forging this alliance. ey've worked out a special partnership to bring even more access to the best possible treatments for all of our patients. Priscilla Hunt and her family's on-going generosity to us and our patients is an act of courage and compassion. It brings me great pride that they have grown to have confidence in the leadership of Torrance Memorial—confidence that their resources will be used wisely and efficiently to bring hope and healing to thousands of patients every year. yra Endicott, MD, Radiation Oncology Torrance Memorial Foundation Board of Directors BOARD NOTES "e Hunt Cancer Center will be the name of a beautiful new building, but really it's the name of a group of people committed to providing the best care possible for our friends and neighbors who are battling cancer." W