ACMC | Pulse | Spring 2015

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Enhancing
our community’s cancer care
ACMC Foundation provides for cancer treatment
improvements in Ashtabula County
DONORS TO Ashtabula County
Medical Center (ACMC)
Foundation are providing
financial support that will
ultimately mean more cancer
patients can be treated without
leaving the county.
The Cancer Care building
at ACMC is undergoing
modifications that will provide
additional private exam rooms,
physician office space, additional
infusion chairs and a dedicated
oncology pharmacy. The cost of the
work and new equipment is $300,000.
“It is important to have quality
cancer care available here in our
county,” said ACMC Healthcare System
President and CEO Michael Habowski.
“Patients undergoing chemotherapy
should not have to face the added
burden of traveling to receive their
treatment. The renovated space will
allow us to serve more patients right
here at home.”
Kathy Lines, LPN, a nurse with
ACMC Cancer Services, spoke about
working with patients and
families coping with cancer,
adding a personal note when
she talked about her mother’s
cancer treatment as well
as her own. She described
how cancer was a part of her
family’s history, and when her
mother first needed treatment
in 1976, there was no cancer
center in Ashtabula County.
“It was hard on her, and on our
family, to travel out of the county to
receive treatment,” Lines said.
When Lines herself was diagnosed
with cancer in 2007, the Cancer Center
at ACMC was open.
“It made all the difference in the
world to be here and not travel,” she
said. “The caring and compassion of
the caregivers was outstanding. It is a
blessing to have this in the community.”
Lines praised the work of oncologist
Mohammad Varghai, MD, who
continues to work with ACMC officials
to keep cancer care in Ashtabula
County.
“Without ACMC and without
Dr. Varghai, cancer patients would once
again be forced to leave the county,” she
said. “But the dedication of ACMC and
Dr. Varghai make it possible to keep
cancer care local. Our patients tell us
every day howmuch it means that they
can come here.”
Donors to the project have included
a variety of individuals and groups,
including the hospital and foundation
boards, physicians, employees, area
businesses and local residents, as well
as several grants.
For more information about donating to the ACMC Foundation, call Executive Director
Tami Netkowicz, CFRE, at 440-997-6605 or visit .
Mohammad
Varghai, MD
ASHTABULA COUNTY
MEDICAL CENTER
2420 Lake Ave.
Ashtabula, OH 44004-4993
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Ashtabula, OH
Permit No. 513
SPRING 2015
ACMC PULSE is published as a community
service for the friends and patrons of:
Ashtabula County Medical Center
2420 Lake Ave.
Ashtabula, OH 44004-4993
440-997-2262
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