CHI Memorial Foundation will host the 10th Annual Pink! Gala, “Cheers to 10 Years!,” on Saturday, Jan. 31 at the Chattanooga Convention Center. Proceeds from the black-tie event will be used to meet the needs of the MaryEllen Locher Breast Center at CHI Memorial.
Named after MaryEllen Locher, a broadcaster with WTVC News Channel 9 who died of the disease in 2005, the Center began “as a collection of cubicles under some stairs at Memorial,” says Jennifer Nicely, president of Memorial Health Care System Foundation, and through the efforts of many people has grown to offer comprehensive care that begins with a mammogram and continues through treatment.
“A woman can come in and do her annual mammogram, and if there’s an issue, have an ultrasound done,” says Nicely. “If there’s still an issue, we have breast surgeons who can do a stereotactic breast biopsy.”
If a patient does have breast cancer, the skills and expertise of every physician who practices at the Center – from the medical oncologists, to the radiation oncologists, to the pathologists, to the surgeons – are brought to bear on beating the disease. Once a week, these doctors meet to discuss every new diagnosis and the plan for treatment. “We use a team approach here,” says Nicely. “You’re not bounced from doctor to doctor, each of who wants to do something different.”
If treatment is required, patients are assigned a nurse navigator, who makes appointments, explains the treatment process, and guides the patient from beginning to end. “Our patients are not told to call a surgeon and schedule something,” Nicely says. “We do more hand-holding, and things happen more quickly as a result.”
The Center is also focused on stopping breast cancer before it appears. One way it does this is through genetic risk counseling. For example, if a woman’s mother had breast cancer, then the Center can identify whether or not her daughter has the gene, and if she does, provide counseling to minimize the chances of her developing cancer.
The Center is also responsive to the needs of patients who are unable to pay for certain services or make arrangements to undergo treatment. The Center almost daily deploys two mobile mammography units into the Chattanooga area to ensure as many women as possible have convenient access to this important component of maintaining their health. Nicely uses a woman working in manufacturing as an example.
“A woman might have insurance but be unable to take a few hours off for a mammogram,” she says. “So we encourage employers to let us pull up to their plant and allow the women there take 20 minutes off for a mammogram.”
Other examples of the ways in which the Center provides assistance for those who need it include paying for a hotel room for someone who lives a considerable distance from Memorial and would be unable to drive back and forth every day for treatment, to helping with the cost of medication, to doing whatever is necessary to make sure a woman is able to be at her appointments. In one case, a lady was missing her appointments because she didn’t want to leave her dog alone; the Center arranged to have someone watch her pet while she received treatment.
“A lot of our ability to pay for these things comes from grants and individual funding,” Nicely says. “Donations play a big part in us having the resources to provide help for the people who need it.”
Pink! got its start as a one-shot effort to raise money to build the Center. Nicely says the Foundation expected about 500 people to attend, and hoped to raise about $50,000. “Over 1,000 people attended, and we raised about $125,000,” Nicely says. “So we did it again.”
To date, the Foundation has raised about $2 million through Pink!. This money has helped to pay for the mobile mammography units, a 3D mammography machine, and more. “I can’t say enough about what Pink! has done for us,” says Barbara Guider, director of the Center. “It’s helped us to be on the cutting edge of breast care in Chattanooga.”
The MaryEllen Locher Breast Center is also one of the leading breast care centers in the nation, and has served as a model for similar centers around the country.
This year, Pink! attendees will enjoy cocktails, a four-course dinner, and dancing to music by the Atlanta All Stars. “It’s like a huge, really fun wedding reception,” Nicely says. “That’s why people like coming to Pink!; they don’t sit at a table and get talked at.”
Nicely is especially looking forward to the survivor’s toast, during which everyone present honors the women who have fought breast cancer and won. “It’s a nice moment that provides hope for the women there who are in the midst of battling the disease,” she says.
Standard tickets to Pink! cost $250, and include cocktails, dinner, and entertainment. A table of eight costs $2,000. Patron tickets include all of the preceding plus valet parking, premium seating, table-side bar service, and an invitation to an exclusive pre-party on Friday, Jan. 30. Sponsorship opportunities ranging from $3,500 to $50,000 are available as well.
The Foundation will be selling only 1,000 tickets to Pink! to ensure everyone receives timely service in a relaxed atmosphere, so Nicely urges those who want to attend to purchase their tickets now.
For more information and to purchase tickets, call (423) 495-PINK or visit www.memorial.org/pink.
For more photos, pick up a copy of the Hamilton County Herald.