Going Above and Beyond to Ease the Stress of Blood & Marrow Transplant Patients

The facility where the stem cells are stored. The Blood and Marrow Transplant unit at the University of Maryland Medical Center was presented with a challenge in housing recovering cancer patients at the beginning of March 2017. Usually, UMMC and the BMT unit use The American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge to provide temporary housing for out-of-town BMT patients recovering from stem cell transplants. However, building construction began across the street from the Hope Lodge, making it unsafe for recovering BMT patients to stay there. Recovering from a stem cell transplant can be physically challenging, and construction debris and dirt could compromise patients’ recuperating immune systems, impeding the healing process. This left Majbritt Jensen, a social worker at UMMC who oversees the psycho-social aspects of BMT treatment and recovery, concerned for her recovering cancer patients. Out-of-town patients must stay within an hour of UMMC to ensure that their recovery from their stem cell transplant was successful. Without discounted housing from the Hope Lodge, these patients would need to stay at a local hotel for at least 100 days. Not all insurance policies cover lodging expenses, meaning that many patients and their caretakers would be financially responsible. Jensen and her team knew that adding a financial burden to the patients and their families during this time could complicate and stress their recovery. So Jensen, along with Bob Mitchell, Associate Director for Admi...
Source: Life in a Medical Center - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Tags: Cancer Employees & Staff patient care Uncategorized Source Type: blogs