Your contribution to Ephrata Community Health Foundation helps us make advancements and maintain high standards in several core areas of community healthcare.
- Clinical excellence and patient-focused care. The Clinical Simulation Lab uses leading-edge simulation technology to enhance clinical training and patient care.
- Community benefit. Without you, patients would have to choose between buying groceries and paying for medication. The Ephrata Cancer Patient Help Fund allows patients to focus on healing.
- Innovation and education. Because of you, nurses receive vital education and developmental opportunities to improve patient care.
Support gives patient hope during the challenge of her life
A cancer diagnosis can start a roller coaster of emotions, and every patient has a different journey. And it has been quite a ride for Rosalia as she has experienced uncertainty and worry while undergoing breast cancer treatment for more than three years.
“There is so much that goes into this journey,” said Rosalia, who credits her team of doctors, nurses and staff at WellSpan Ephrata Cancer Center for walking alongside her every step of the way.
“The Cancer Patient Help Fund is such a wonderful program. It brought relief to me and my sister, who was helping me. We’ve received grocery gift cards to purchase healthy food, which I’ve needed to beat cancer.”
- Rosalia
A “weird feeling” in her body prompted an exam in 2019, leading to Rosalia’s eventual diagnosis of breast cancer. Initially, her tumor was deemed inoperable due to its steep positioning in her chest, but after several rounds of chemotherapy, her doctor performed surgery in May of 2023.
“We found hope and strength through our surgeon. It was a miracle for me to do that surgery,” Rosalia said. “I just finished treatment and I am gaining some of the weight back that I lost, but I am still on this journey.”
Unfortunately, Rosalia’s challenges throughout her cancer journey have encompassed more than her health. She has not been employed and relies on help from her sister, Sofia, who has taken Rosalia to all her appointments and has cared for her.
Rosalia’s expenses were mounting, and Sofia was already working overtime to cover nutritious supplements needed for Rosalia’s recovery. That’s when Rosalia received some much-needed assistance from the Ephrata Cancer Patient Help Fund.
You can make a difference
- Cancer Patient Help Fund: Lend a hand to patients facing the financial burdens that often result from dealing with the impact of cancer. This fund helps with basic living expenses, such as rent, utilities, groceries and transportation to and from medical appointments. Funds are available to patients who meet specific financial aid guidelines.
- Center for Heart Care Fund: Help patients recovering from heart failure improve their quality of life. Gifts to this fund help provide patients with items from the WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital’s low sodium food pantry, free fresh fruits and vegetables, patient scales, community outreach supplies, educational materials and support lunch and learns for the heart failure support group.
- Clinical Simulation Lab: Support an innovative and interactive high-tech classroom that ensures a safe transition from classroom to patient room for trainees. This involves the use of high-fidelity mannequins, staff development and refining, and applies trainees’ knowledge and skills in a realistic clinical situation for a wide variety of health care issues.
- Cribs for Kids Fund: Help provide Pack 'n Play portable cribs to Lancaster County families in need of a safe sleep environment for their newborn, as well as educational resources aimed at decreasing the number of SIDS-related deaths.
- Nursing Education Fund: Cover professional development and continuing education expenses for nurses at WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital. Funds do not cover tuition or tuition reimbursement.
- Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) Fund: Lend a hand in providing compassionate care for victims of sexual assault through local access to comprehensive medical treatment. Your gift also helps support program equipment and supplies and provides SAFE nurses with opportunities for continuing education and specialized training.
- Where needed most: Be a part of responding to emerging needs. Giving to this fund enables us to address the areas of greatest need for WellSpan Health.
- Future Physician Scholarship Program: Help provide funding to this unique WellSpan initiative to sponsor medical school scholarships. Scholarships aid young people with a connection to a local WellSpan community and require them to return to work within the WellSpan footprint following their graduation.
- Spotlight on Children’s Health: Invest in children’s early development to eliminate health and achievement inequities later in life by providing literacy and early childhood education services and meeting special health care needs. This fund supports the opportunity for all children in our regions of care to develop in safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments.
- Lancaster County Patient Support Fund: Help patients who have needs that affect their treatment or health outcomes. This fund assists at-risk patients with food, transportation, transitional housing and life-saving medications.
