Written By: Cheryl Makin, Courier News
Mindy Ashe arrived 15 minutes early as requested for her radiology appointment at the Steeplechase Cancer Center at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) Somerset. She put on her robe, placed her personal items away in a locker and waited for the nurse to call.
Like other patients, this was a set appointment occurring five to six times a week. And at every appointment, Ashe noticed another woman came flying through the door, arriving late. She would be breathing hard and obviously stressed.
“Traffic?” Ashe asked after witnessing this a few times.
“No,” the woman said. “I don’t have a ride. I can’t drive right now. I have to rely on other people to get me here. It’s what I spend all my time stressing about.”
This was unacceptable to Ashe. The woman’s plight stayed with Ashe, who worked for the Far Hills Race Meeting Association at the time.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘Oh my gosh, you have cancer and you’re stressing about getting a ride to treatment,’” Ashe said. “And it broke my heart. There’s too much to battle when you’re going through cancer, a ride should not be in the mix.”
The Far Hills Race Meeting Association has a long-standing relationship with RWJUH Somerset. Since the 1950s, the organization has donated more than $20 million to the hospital, and the construction of the Steeplechase Cancer Center was supported by Far Hills donations, among others, and the facility was named in its honor.
Ashe went to Guy Torsilieri and Ron Kennedy, co-chairmen of Far Hills Race Meeting Association, with a request to help those like the woman having trouble getting to treatment.
Their “yes” answer in 2018 has grown into a fund that has assisted hundreds of cancer patients with various expenses such as groceries, transportation, utilities, medications and prosthetics. With about 150 patients helped annually, the fund also provided 1,500 Uber Health rides, 250 $50 grocery gift cards, $30,000 in utility bills and $16,000 in prosthetics and wigs.
Specifically for Steeplechase’s cancer patients, the fund provides help needed to those who need it most free of charge with no questions asked. This fund has been quietly supporting cancer patients behind the scenes since 2018, said Donna Castronovo, RWJUH Somerset Vice President, Foundation and Development.
Far Hills has raised nearly $700,000 for the fund, making it the biggest contributor.More: Have a look inside New Jersey’s first freestanding cancer hospital, one of 13 nationwide
In June, National Cancer Survivors Month, the Steeplechase Cancer Center’s Oncology Patient Assistance Fund has been renamed the Far Hills Race Meeting Association Oncology Patient Assistance Fund due to the organization’s significant contributions.
“It started out first with Donna and I talking about how and what we could do,” said Torsilieri. “Originally, we thought it would just be for ride sharing or transportation. And then with further discussion, Donna suggested to not restrict it − leave it open ended, which is what we did. And Mindy was seeing a lot of patients down there that had a lot of different needs, whether it was for wigs or whatever, and that’s really how it started. We’re thrilled to be named in honor of it. It’s one of the dearest charities in our playbook with the Far Hill Race Meeting Association.”
The organization’s dedication to the fund has enabled its sustainability for ongoing support, Castronovo said.
“The sustainability of this fund is imperative,” she said. “People are diagnosed every day, and that number continues to grow annually. We want to make sure we have enough money in that fund to be able to offer this opportunity with a very loose criteria, so we can help everyone. I think it’s important that people know the business behind the Far Hills Race Meeting Association and what they do in the community. Their funds are helping us care for our community.”
The fund helps cancer patients “of all diagnoses, all tumor types and disease states, regardless of insurance status,” at Steeplechase take care of some of the more overlooked factors that come with their battles, said RWJUH Somerset Chief Administrative Officer Deirdre Blaus.
It was recognized that patients were having a variety of challenges keeping up with the expenses of life and the expenses of their diagnosis. Blaus said the fund could support these needs and allow the patient to continue focusing on their healing and treatment.
At Steeplechase, Blaus said every patient is assigned to a Care Team who “wraps their arms around the patient.” Through the moment of diagnosis, every patient is introduced to a navigator, social worker and nutritionist who are part of the Care Team along with their physicians, nurses and nurse practitioners.
“Every new cancer case that is diagnosed is discussed with a multidisciplinary team, and part of that discussion is certainly the clinical aspect of their diagnosis and effective treatment options, but part of that is also the entire patient, and the entire patient situation, status and needs,” Blaus said. “It is a hybrid of all team members who can identify any patient that might need support, and certainly, our social workers and navigators and nutritionists spend quite a bit of time with those patients.”More: RWJ Somerset hospital dedicates new unit for emergency patients for Kalafer family
The fund is open-ended, organizers said. It can deviate a bit and personalize things for patients who may need certain things, such as a patient going through treatment who needed a proper bed. The fund also has a ripple effect that impacts the whole family with fund assistance for the patient.
“When we assess somebody for food insecurity, it’s not just them,” Blaus said. “We assess their household. Do they have young children? A spouse? Are they caring for an elderly parent? We want their household to thrive. We want them to thrive. And if we don’t give people enough money for groceries for their household, what are they going to do? They’re likely going to give the food they have to their children, not themselves. So, we want to make sure we’re supporting family that way.
“And also, if we don’t provide the transportation to the patient, and transportation is a challenge to them, it could impact their loved one’s ability to work and maintain some sort of income stream, other sustainability for their family, far beyond their cancer. This fund allows the patient to come get their treatment and doesn’t necessarily pull their family away from work and earning income for their family.”
The goal with each need and request is to solve the issue in real time to relieve the patient from stress. Torsilieri added that “100% of every dollar, of every penny that goes into this fund goes out to the patients.”
It allows our patients to take a breath.” Blaus said.
“We’re incredibly lucky to have this fund and this partnership through the Far Hills Race Meeting Association,” Blaus said. “While others do donate to this fund, including many of our own employees, because they’ve seen the beauty of it, Far Hills Race Meeting Association are absolutely the most generous donors to this and has really made this fund sustainable.”
Ashe, who served as inspiration for the launch of this fund, is a two-time cancer survivor and has come full circle. She now works as a boutique assistant at Sanofi US Wellness Boutique at Steeplechase Cancer Center. Ashe lives by the Robin Roberts-inspired motivation, “Make your mess your motivation.”
“She said to use your personal struggles to help others,” Ashe said. “I could be angry at the world for getting cancer or I could turn it into something positive. I now spend my days helping cancer patients look and feel better about themselves. And I feel really good about working there and helping them do that.”
