Pharmacy News EU

Mar. 1Patients come to Medical Center Hospital and the West Texas Cancer Center from all around the Permian Basin, but a shared lease of one floor at Lincoln Tower means that family and some patients have a place to stay during times of crisis.
MCH has five rooms on the floor, with the cancer center getting the other five rooms. As of right now, the West Texas Cancer Center side is the only one really intended to serve non-emergency patients themselves.
"It’s a home away from home with creature comforts," MCH public relations coordinator Amber Sweeney said of the MCH side called the Friendship Home.
Each room features many of the comforts of home, such as flat-screen televisions, fridge, microwave, couches and lamps.
West Texas Cancer Center patient Barbara Barker lives in the Fort Davis area and is staying on the cancer center side while going through radiation treatment for six weeks.
"This is the most special treatment I have ever experienced, and I have had a previous bout of cancer in 1995," she said. "This truly feels better than home. It’s so elegant."
She previously lived in the College Station vicinity, and Barker said that living roughly four hours away makes treatment difficult, but it’s much easier without traveling to a hotel a long distance from the cancer center.
"It’s a very short walk to a safe, secure place. It’s a real godsend," she said.
Friendship Home Volunteer Coordinator Adina Crain said volunteers are needed to help those staying at the Friendship Home, particularly during the evenings.
Volunteers help check guests in and out, assist in wiping down the rooms after departing guests clean the rooms and even make sure rooms are well stocked.
She said the rooms are stocked with items like soup, tea bags and snacks.
"That’s were donations would really help take us over the edge," Crain said.
Crain said the home would like to offer more comforts like art on the walls and a DVD and book library.
MCH Director of Volunteer Services Patricia Garcia said the Friendship Home is a fulfillment of a vision going back years. The MCH auxiliary donated around $50,000 in furniture and other items to help fill the rooms. The purpose behind the free place to stay is to help families and patients go through the stress of illness better.
"We realized that taking care of patients is a great thing, but when you take care of the family, then there is a real connection and both patient and family feels comfort," Garcia said.
West Texas Cancer Center Patient Counselor Mary Collier is in charge of the cancer center’s side to the floor, called Hope House. The center has had a facility in Midland for some time, but Collier said one was needed in Odessa.
"It’s a wonderful collaboration. The beauty of having it here is that it’s so close, just right across from the parking lot," she said.
Having just opened Jan. 11, she said the Hope House has already made a difference.
"Truly lots of people couldn’t afford to stay here for treatment without our facility," Collier said.
Collier emphasized that the Hope House shares space with MCH, but the two entities are separate and rely on their own donations to keep the cancer side going strong along with MCH.
"This is critical for mind, body and spirit healing," she said.
Hope House board member Lorita Kelley is a nurse and a cancer survivor herself. She said she is amazed Odessa has such as service in the region.
"I have a heart for these people, and so many other areas don’t have something like this," Kelley said.
WISH LIST
The Friendship Home needs volunteers and donated items. For information or to donate in other ways, call 640-4663.
Here are major items on the organization’s wish list:
Blow dryers.
Razors.
Toothbrush/toothpaste.
Shampoo/conditioner.
Combs.
Laundry items.
Toilet paper.
Dish towels.
Puzzle books/cards.
Feminine products.
Medium and small baskets.
Water bottles.
Individually packaged snacks.
Fruit cups.
Coffee.
Tea bags.
Paper plates.
Styrofoam cups.
Juices.
Frozen dinners.
Popcorn.
Blankets.
Ice trays.
Chips.
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Copyright (c) 2010, Odessa American, Texas
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