Northside Hospital Receives Grant from Colon Cancer Alliance

6/10/2013

Lack of transportation can be a major barrier to receiving cancer screening or treatment. Many people forego much needed medical care because they don’t have a car, can’t drive or live too far away. Thanks to a generous grant from the Colon Cancer Alliance (CCA) and the organization’s Undy 5000 5K run/walk series, Northside Hospital now has a resource to assist these patients. Through Northside’s newly created Colorectal Cancer Transportation Assistance Program, qualified patients may receive one way or round-trip transportation, within Metro Atlanta, to colorectal-related activities such as: •Physician appointments •Colonoscopy appointments •Colorectal cancer diagnostic testing •Colorectal cancer treatment •Medication re-fills As a National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Center, Northside Hospital offers a complete range of advanced colorectal cancer care services including education, genetic counseling, endoscopy diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, radiation oncology, surgery, support and more. Assistance from the Colorectal Cancer Transportation Assistance Program is limited to those patients who have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer or who are seeking colorectal cancer screening. Anyone, regardless of insurance status, is eligible. For colonoscopy appointments, patients must be accompanied by an adult, 18 years of age or older. Funding can be used for transportation to and from any of Northside’s facilities and will be available until resources are exhausted. "Colon cancer is one of the top five cancers we diagnose at Northside Hospital; increasing access to colorectal cancer screening and treatment for our patients is a primary goal of our Cancer Institute this year," said Betty McGinty, RN, MSHSA, CGRN, director of Northside Hospital’s Advanced Center for GI Therapeutics. "We are very appreciative of the Colon Cancer Alliance and the Undy 5000 for supporting our program." The Colon Cancer Alliance’s (CCA) Community Health Partnership Grant Program, which is funded through the organization’s Undy 5000 5K, provides grants to partners who will help further CCA’s mission to provide hope and support to patients and their families, while saving lives through prevention, research, and patient support services. To date, CCA has awarded more than $300,000 to local communities to help further colon cancer programs. To learn more about Northside Hospital’s GI services or the Colorectal Cancer Transportation Assistance Program, call 404-300-2800. For more information about supporting Northside, visit www.northside.com. The Northside Hospital health care delivery system, a not-for-profit health care provider, has served north Metro Atlanta for more than 40 years. With more than 2,200 physicians and 8,200 employees, the hospital sees nearly 700,000 patient visits a year. Staff provide a full range of health care services, including women’s health, cancer care, emergency care, surgery, specialty medicine and a wide array of outpatient services at many locations. Northside Hospital offers high-quality health care at Northside Hospital-Atlanta in Sandy Springs, Northside Hospital-Cherokee in Canton and Northside Hospital-Forsyth in Cumming.