Support Services for Cancer Patients

We are committed to providing you with the resources and support that you need to make your journey through cancer diagnosis and treatment as pleasant as possible. For more information on the support services listed below, please call 231-392-8484. 

CFCC Oncology Nurse Navigation

An Oncology Nurse Navigator offers personalized support to patients, families, and caregivers to help ensure patients have the best experience possible between diagnosis and treatment. Oncology Nurse Navigators provide education and resources to help families make decisions related to treatment and ensure timely access to quality health and psychosocial care.

Healthcare Team Advocate:

• Ensure timely communication among the highly specialized disciplines in the field of Oncology
• Appropriately place referrals for supportive services to ensure patient receives holistic care
• Educate patient concerning the diverse roles of the members of their team

Quality:

• Evaluate and improve processes related to timely patient care
• Educate ancillary staff regarding oncology concerns and protocols
• Serve as the nurse expert in each specialized field

Safety:

• Track each patients journey from diagnosis to treatment in order to ensure processes are providing best possible outcomes
• Educate patients concerning diagnosis, staging, and treatment options in order to ensure that patients are making fully informed decisions
• Advocate for patient autonomy and ensure goals of care are always transparent

Operational Performance:

• Monitor and coordinate the scheduling of the NCCN recommended diagnostic testing and treatment protocols
• Communicate process changes to the multidisciplinary healthcare team

To Refer, call 231-392-8400 and ask to be connected

Essentials Boutique at the Cowell Family Cancer Center

Currently, the Essentials Boutique is open by appointment only. For more information on how to schedule a consultation for services listed below, please call 231-213-0508. 

Compression Garment and Prosthetic Garment Fitting Services

The Essentials Boutique offers private fittings and ordering services for items such as post-surgical garments, lymphedema sleeves, prosthetics, including post-mastectomy bras, bathing suits, tank tops, and forms.

Wig Consultation Services

In collaboration with our providers, Cowell Family Cancer Center is pleased to offer wig services for our cancer patients provided through individualized insurance coverage or support from our financial navigation program.  

Nutrition Education 

Cancer patients often have special nutritional needs before, during, and after treatment. Our cancer center dietitian is a Board Certified Specialist in Oncology Nutrition and can help address the various changes that can occur with a cancer diagnosis. Examples include managing poor appetite or desire to eat, changing senses of taste and smell, swallowing difficulty, nausea, mouth sores, weight loss, and nutritional deficiencies. Guidance is also offered to post-treatment patients to help rebuild nutritional status and decrease the risk of cancer recurrence.

Referrals for this service can be made through your health care provider, however self-referrals also are welcome. As a patient of the Cowell Family Cancer Center, this service is offered complimentary with no insurance needed to meet with our Dietitian.

For more information, please call 231-392-8495 or email cancerservices@mhc.net.

Palliative Care

Palliative care focuses on providing relief from the symptoms and stresses of a serious illness. The goal of palliative care is to achieve the best quality of life for both patients and their families. 

What We Do for You 

Our palliative care team consists of a physician, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses, spiritual care advisors and licensed social workers. 

The team provides compassion and comfort while emphasizing treatment goals that continue to focus on the quality of life. We will work with your primary care physician to keep you comfortable. 

The service also assists patients and families with medical decisions, advance care planning, and the continuum of care throughout advanced illness. 

Is palliative care right for me? 

Palliative care is for people of any age who experience difficulty in managing pain or other symptoms affecting quality of life. Request a referral from your primary care physician and our Palliative Care team can determine if these services are right for you. 

Is palliative care the same as hospice? 

No. Palliative care is a service that typically provides symptom management for a life-limiting illness in collaboration with the patient’s primary care provider. Palliative care can encompass a one-time consultation or an ongoing visitation schedule to address symptom management needs, provide information on treatment options, offer counseling, and provide supportive care. 

Unlike hospice, palliative care is supportive during the time aggressive or curative treatment is being sought for the illness. Hospice is a Medicare regulated benefit for those patients who have a life expectancy of six months or less. The philosophy of hospice is comfort and quality of life acknowledging that end of life is near. 

How do I pay for palliative care? 

Typically, we will bill your insurance. We accept Medicare, Medicaid and most commercial insurance.

Contact Munson Palliative Care Team 

Call us at 800-252-2065. 

Oncology Social Work

We recognize the unique needs of a person living with cancer including adjustments that may occur with a new diagnosis. Oncology social work is a resource for multiple areas of support including advance care planning, psychosocial assessment, counseling patients and their caregivers, life as a cancer survivor, psychoeducation and ancillary services to help with advocacy and the needs of the patient and further, cancer support groups. 

Our licensed social worker at Cowell Family Cancer Center has expertise in the psychosocial and emotional needs of cancer patients. To learn about the service, call Cowell Family Cancer Center at 231-392-8494.