The University of Toledo
12/12/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/12/2024 08:05
UToledo Health to Begin Offering Limited Shuttle Service for Cancer Patients
UToledo Health to Begin Offering Limited Shuttle Service for Cancer Patients
UToledo Health will soon begin offering shuttle services to and from the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center to ensure patients don't miss appointments because of a lack of transportation.
The new service will be available to current UToledo Health patients from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday beginning in January.
From left, Dr. Natalie Rizk, surgical oncologist, Dr. Danae Hamouda, medical oncologist, and Dr. Mersiha Hadziahmetovic, radiation oncologist, pose in front of the new patient shuttle. All three work at the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center.
"Not having access to reliable transportation can be a major barrier to care," said Dr. Mersiha Hadziahmetovic, a UToledo Health radiation oncologist. "Cancer doesn't wait, and the success of therapy depends on showing up for your treatments. This is a way we can reduce barriers and hopefully improve patient outcomes."
The specially modified, handicap accessible minivan will provide free, individual transportation to and from the cancer center for patients and one support person. Initially the service will be offered to patients within roughly a 20-mile radius of the cancer center.
Chris Kosinski, the director of the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center, said several dozen appointments are typically missed each month. While not all of those are due to transportation issues, adding the shuttle should help more patients make their appointments as scheduled.
Some patients, he said, may not have access to a car, feel well enough to drive or have someone available to drive them on a particular day. Depending on the treatment being administered, some patients may not be permitted to drive following their appointment.
"Achieving the best possible outcome for cancer patients requires sticking to a carefully crafted treatment plan. But sometimes life gets in the way, and we understand that," he said. "We want to make sure that no one is missing an appointment because they didn't have a ride that day. This is a safety-net type service to ensure we're serving our patients to the best of our ability."
And missing an appointment can have a real, measurable impact on how well a patient's treatment works.
Hadziahmetovic, the clinical service chief in the Department of Radiation Oncology, said research has shown that for some cancers, a single missed treatment can reduce the chance of controlling the disease by 1%.
"If you miss 10 daily treatments, you've lowered your chances by 10%," she said. "That doesn't apply to every malignancy, but for some that's a well-known fact, and it shows how important something like this patient shuttle is."
The Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center is able to offer the limited patient transportation services thanks to support from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
"Giving Ohioans the chance to lead healthy and independent lives is a core principle of our work at Anthem and drives everything we do," said Greg LaManna, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicaid in Ohio. "We're pleased to work with UToledo Health to provide this critical transportation support and break down barriers to essential care, helping improve health outcomes for cancer patients in the Toledo community."
Though the patient transportation shuttle will launch specifically for patients of the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center, UToledo Health hopes to expand the service in the future to assist with emergency room and inpatient discharge.