By Crystal Garcia
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE
May 31, 2008 08:44 pm
—
Valley residents walked through Terre Haute’s new one-stop shop for cancer treatment Saturday at the Hux Cancer Center Health Fair.
Tours and various health screenings such as lung function, bone density and skin cancer were available from 9 a.m. to noon at the $13.5 million, 88,000-square-foot facility at 1711 N. 61⁄2 St.
At least three years in the making, the Hux Cancer Center, a Union Hospital affiliate, is home to services from four different offices: Hux Radiation Oncology, AP&S Oncology and Hematology, the Hope Center and Clara Fairbanks Center for Women.
Registered nurse Sue Jarvis, director of the oncology service line at the center, said the feedback has been very positive.
“The biggest thing we’re hearing is it’s nice to come to one place,” she said. “Radiation and chemotherapy are in the same building. That’s what sets this cancer center apart, you can receive a majority of your services under one roof.”
That’s something former Union Hospital employee Delores Nelson could see would be a big help to patients. She and her husband, Rocky, don’t live far from the center and wanted to see what the new facility looked like.
“It’ll be so much easier,” she said. “Patients won’t have to go from one building to another, so they’re not running around trying to find things, especially sick.”
She and her husband’s only complaint about the facility was that there should be a parking structure somewhere in the area.
Services offered at the center include radiation therapy, medical oncology, clinical trials, mammography, support services, nutrition services and a resource center. Boutique services — such as Wabash Valley Y-Me Breast Cancer Support Group’s appearance center, which offers free wigs to ladies who’ve lost their hair from treatment — also are available.
Patients of the center are coming from all around the Wabash Valley, Jarvis said.
“It’s just been great,” she said. “It’s been well-received by the community.”
While it hasn’t been up and running as long as the other four offices, Clara Fairbanks Center for Women is experiencing similar results and positive feedback.
Clara Fairbanks moved to Hux from its previous location of 1505 N. Seventh St., which mammogram technologist Lydia Kruse, Clara Fairbanks’ manager, said was far too small for the services they provide.
“That wasn’t built for a women’s center. The rooms were too small,” she said, noting that as technology advanced, more space was needed to do their jobs.
As a former radiology patient, Kathy Meneely of Terre Haute attended the fair to see where her followup appointment was going to be, she said.
“It’s beautiful, absolutely beautiful,” she said. “Such a nice change.”
Meneely said the bright, open atmosphere will help patients because it’s not depressing.
“All the artwork and pictures really make a difference,” she said.
With some patients spending six to eight hours at a time receiving treatment, Jarvis said they are in the process of working out concierge services such as arranging oil changes, dropping off dry cleaning or picking up some groceries for patients.
For more information about the Hux Cancer Center, call (812) 238-4521, or visit www.huxcancercenter.org.
Crystal Garcia can be reached at (812) 231-4271 or crystal.garcia@tribstar.com.
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