Jacksonville patient gives back: Oncology support program helps with non-medical needs

As she sat in a waiting room ahead of a breast cancer treatment at  Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside, Andrea Laliberte observed many people ask hospital staff if vouchers were available to cover the $3 parking fee.

During a conversation with an oncology nurse, the Jacksonville woman learned of a patient who distributed gift cards to people in need when he came for treatment on his birthday. That act of generosity was his birthday gift to himself, she said.

The parking fee requests and the gift cards planted a seed in Laliberte's heart. She  helped Ascension Riverside, a nonprofit hospital, establish an oncology support services program to assist patients with paying non-medical bills.

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"I was raised in a family of modest means but who still gave back," she said. "I have always given back."

Though now retired, Laliberte's career as a logistics executive had provided the earnings, savings and investments to be a philanthropist herself. Her giving initially focused on higher education through donations to her alma mater, Georgia Tech, and her father's alma mater, the University of Vermont.

"The treatment I received at Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside was amazing and I knew I wanted to give back as a way of saying thank you, but I didn’t know what I wanted to give to," she said.

Her experience with breast cancer — diagnosed in 2020 after a routine mammogram found a lump, she went through surgery, chemotherapy and radiation — showed her "how blessed I am with my family, my friends and my financial situation," she said.

Most common non-medical need is financial help

In 2021 she donated $50,000 to Ascension, with $10,000 earmarked for the foundation’s mobile mammography unit and $40,000 dedicated to developing a new oncology support services fund to help patients pay non-medical bills.

This year Laliberte, 62, donated another $400,000 that allowed the foundation to publicly launch the Oncology Support Services Program.

"My initial goal was to say thank you with a one-off gift, but after learning about the level of need, I now want to see the oncology support services program become an ongoing, expanding program which many people contribute to," she said. "I am thankful I am in a position where I can make a difference and help other cancer patients. Cancer is tough: physically, mentally and financially."

Laliberte didn't want her name on the door like some donors. But she wants other donors to be aware of the need and follow her lead.

"Recipients only know of the program, not the person who gave the funds, which is the way I want it," she said. "I want people to know that the need exists, the program exists and any donation amount makes a difference."

Registered nurse Ruby Soriano, manager of the program, said financial assistance is the greatest need among cancer patients. The most "common sources of non-medical financial stress" are utility bills, rent or mortgage, car payments, insurance and phone and internet, she said.

"Anyone diagnosed with cancer takes a financial hit in one way or another. The degree does vary based on the patient's economic and health insurance status," she said. "Non-medical bills put a lot of worry on the patient and sometimes affects their compliance with treatment … They may have to choose between paying medical bills or paying the month's rent to have shelter, or keep electricity and water on in their household."

Some patients even have trouble paying for gas to get to their appointments.

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"If patients keep missing their appointments or treatment, it decreases their chance of getting the best outcome," Soriano said.

Laliberte's gifts, which began during the COVID-19 pandemic, were an "answered prayer," she said.

"At the height of the pandemic, a lot of community resources and agencies halted their services due to safety concerns at that time as well as the drying out of financial resources," she said. "We had a lot of patients who were facing financial challenges at that time and we couldn't get any financial assistance locally in the community or nationally. It was a really tough time. Andrea's donation came as a great blessing."

As manager of the program, Soriano oversees the services that navigators, social workers and dietitians provide to cancer patients. The goal, she said, is to ensure they receive the "best cancer care experience" while being treated at Ascension St. Vincent's Riverside.

"I see to it that we are able to support our patients in minimizing, if not eliminating, barriers to care," she said. "It is a great blessing that we are able to … make a positive impact on our patients' cancer journeys by helping secure some of their basic needs so they can focus on getting their treatment."

ASCENSION ST. VINCENT'S RIVERSIDE ONCOLOGY SUPPORT SERVICES

https://givestvincents.org/community-outreach/#oncology

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville patient funds Ascension oncology support program