Thompson Cancer Survival Ctr Foundation

Multidisciplinary Operating Grant: The Foundation provides grant support for the operations of the Multidisciplinary Treatment Department of the Thompson Cancer Survival Center ("TCSC"). Multidisciplinary treatment facilitates specialty physicians discussing treatment options based on the individuality of the patient's circumstances. A multidisciplinary nurse navigator schedules a private consultation for each patient with the members of the specialty team. This approach affords the opportunity for the physician to relate one-on-one with the oncology patient and explain treatment choices in layman's terms. Patients in need of this support come from various Covenant Health facilities, as well as outside facilities. Nurse navigators and a department assistant currently organize, oversee, summarize, and provide follow-up for four to five multidisciplinary cancer conferences per week. In 2023, 1,367 patients were presented at multidisciplinary conferences, with 174 of those patients seen in our multidisciplinary clinics where a nurse navigator attends with each patient to take notes, educate, offer support to patients and families, and become their liaison between all physicians and services. TCSC's nurse navigators assist oncology patients according to their needs and help them overcome multiple barriers to healthcare. Three new nurse navigators joined the program in 2023. Common barriers include financial, educational, transportation, logistical, linguistic, cultural, and emotional factors, as well as the complicated health care system in general. Navigators guide patients to sources of financial support, help complete paperwork, educate patients on diagnoses and medical procedures, arrange and coordinate appointments with multiple providers, help with transportation, assist with housing, communicate with providers about unique patient needs, ensure medical records arrive at scheduled appointments, direct patients to support groups or counseling services, and attend patient appointments for support. There were 34,505 oncology patient education encounters in 2023, and 2,249 patients were assisted by navigators to address complicated issues. For those patients that have curative treatment options, 235 Survivorship Care Plans were completed by nurse navigators and discussed with patients in 2023.

Clinical Trials Operating Grant:The Foundation provides a grant to TCSC for the operation of its Clinical Trials program. Since the opening of TCSC in 1988, the Clinical Trials Department has enrolled 2,713 patients in clinical trials. The TCSC Clinical Trials Department currently has 12 active treatment patients and 96 patients in follow-up studies. In 2023, TCSC Clinical Trials Department opened 16 new oncology clinical trials. Due to the excellent research reputation of the program's medical director and research team, TCSC continues to have new clinical trial opportunities offered to its research team on a weekly basis. To help with screening efforts for potential clinical trial participants, Research Nurse Coordinators are assigned to specific physician schedules for screening and to specific locations for coverage, including Thompson Oncology Group's Oak Ridge, Sevierville, West Knoxville, Downtown Knoxville, and Lenoir City locations. Opening new studies increases referrals locally and regionally and gives current patients the ability to be treated with state-of-the-art care in their own community. Involvement in prevention, treatment, and data and specimen collection trials offers an improved means of health strategies for individuals at risk for certain cancers, as well as access to proven standard cancer treatments and new, developing cutting edge therapies for those diagnosed with cancer. In October 2023, the department hosted its second annual Clinical Trials Symposium featuring four excellent speakers addressing advances in breast cancer trials.

Social Services Operating Grant:The Foundation provides grant support for the operations of the Social Services Department of TCSC. The Social Services Department receives referrals from Covenant Health facilities when oncology patients are identified that could benefit from the services provided by this department. In 2023, Social Services supported 2,585 new patient referrals and 7,064 follow-up patients. Additionally, there were 3,641 new patients referred for nutritional counseling and education in 2023 with 5,725 follow-up assessments and 4,934 educational encounters to support those patients. The Social Services Department also offers genetic counseling services including breast cancer and hereditary cancer risk assessments. In 2023, the Genetics Clinic provided services for 930 new patients who were in need of genetic counseling. Of those patients, 760 were scheduled, 576 completed genetic counseling, and 457 elected to pursue genetic testing. Whether patients tested positive or negative for a hereditary cancer syndrome, decided not to pursue testing, or were not appropriate candidates for testing, they and their families were able to make informed decisions regarding their medical management based on the genetic counseling they received. All patients received education, counseling and guidelines based on recommendations informed by their personal health history, family health history, and genetic testing results.

In addition to the program services detailed above, funding was also provided in 2023 for patient assistance, cancer outreach services, and colon cancer/ostomy education:The Thompson Cares Fund, supported by employee and community donations, provides emergency assistance for cancer patients in times of crisis. In 2023, 1,196 patients received assistance with such needs as housing, transportation, utilities, food/nutritional supplements, medical supplies and medications.Thompson Cancer Survival Center Foundation supports the work of TCSC's cancer outreach department that provides free and reduced-cost cancer screenings in the East Tennessee area. In addition to outreach efforts at community health fairs/free clinics, the department provides no-cost mammograms and smoking/vaping cessation education. Early detection and prevention efforts are the first step to help patients be diagnosed quickly or, if possible, never have to battle the disease at all. In 2022, the foundation began funding a new patient education program focused on colon cancer and ostomy care. In 2023, 27 patients benefited from the classes taught both in advance of and following colostomy surgery to prepare patients and their families for successfully living with a colostomy. The classes are taught by a registered nurse and there is no charge to patients.