The Ellen Hermanson Foundation has awarded $378,000 in grants for its fiscal year ending December 31, 2021. Recipients include Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, The Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center, OLA (Organización Latino-Americana) of Eastern Long Island, The Retreat, and the Shinnecock Health Center.
The foundation ensures access to state-of-the-art breast health care and empowers people affected by cancer.
Administered in partnership with the Southampton Hospital Foundation and Phillips Family Cancer Center, the grants benefit the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital and Ellen’s Well, a program that provides psychosocial support to breast and gynecological cancer patients.
“Guided by our mission to ensure access to quality breast health care and by our core belief that health care is a human right, we are committed to work together with our partners to reach community members who need our help the most — those who experience barriers to receiving breast healthcare: the uninsured, the underinsured and anyone who is in need of support after receiving a breast cancer diagnosis,” said Julie Ratner, Ed.D., the co-founder and board president of The Ellen Hermanson Foundation.
“As the pandemic impacts our community, we know that breast cancer rates will remain high, and the needs of the at-risk population will grow. We know that our neighbors will face stress, mental health issues, and financial hardship because of a breast cancer diagnosis, and entire families will be affected. Our message is that no one is turned away from the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center for lack of insurance or inability to pay for screenings or treatment.”
In late December, the Foundation Board (Julie Ratner, Ed. D., President; Ann Ciardullo, Vice President; Hugo Moreno, Treasurer; Cathy Tweedy, Secretary; Constance M. Chen, M.D.; Amanda Star Frazer, Esq.; Hope Klein Langer; Eileen Rappaport; Dee Rivera; and Iris Shokoff) approved $378,000 in grants for 2022 programs in addition to reallocating $142,890 of 2021 reserves, totaling $520,890 to fund the programs and services.
At the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital the funds will provide a salary for a nurse practitioner — a new position — performing community outreach, writing screening prescriptions, and following patients in their breast health care. It will also cover the salary for an Ellen’s Well licensed clinical social worker providing group and individual therapy, a salary upgrade for a registered nurse patient navigator, the funding for a Neoprobe gamma detection system to guide surgeons in targeting tissue during surgery, a technology fund for the Radioactive Seed Locator program, and an emergency fund for screenings and diagnostic procedures.
“This grant from The Ellen Hermanson Foundation serves to underwrite crucial services and advanced technologies for the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center, which is designated as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology,” said Robert S. Chaloner, the chief administrative officer at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. “We are immensely grateful for the foundation’s steadfast annual support in helping us provide the East End community with a spectrum of essential breast health services, including education, early detection screenings and breast cancer treatment and resources.”
At the Shinnecock Health Center it will cover funding for the Pink Shawl Program for outreach and social assistance for breast health care and micro-grants for transportation and social assistance for breast cancer patients.
At the Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center the money will fund a bilingual licensed clinical social worker and outreach worker, micro-grants for social assistance for breast cancer patients, and underwriting for an educational community forum about breast cancer.
“The Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center, known as The Center, is honored and grateful to be the recipient of the Ellen Hermanson Foundation grant in partnership with Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, which will enable us to improve wellness within the minority community. Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer among our black and brown women. It is wonderful to finally see grassroots organizations partnering together to service the community via counseling, outreach, awareness forums, and more. Thank you!” said Bonnie Michelle Cannon, the executive director of Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center.
OLA (Organización Latino-Americana) of Eastern Long Island and The Retreat will receive funding for bilingual outreach and micro-grants for social assistance for breast cancer patients.
“Under the leadership of Medical Director Dr. Edna Kapenhas, the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center is committed to provide the most advanced technology available in a community hospital setting,” said Dr. Ratner. “My sister Ellen would be proud that the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center has earned the ranking of Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by The American College of Radiology. Our sister Emily Levin, The Ellen Hermanson Foundation co-founder who recently passed away, would be pleased to see that we are still funding top notch technology that benefits everyone, especially by expanding our reach into the community to ensure that no one falls through the cracks.”
“With the assistance of our many generous donors, we are thrilled to provide essential funding for a full-service breast center from education, early detection screenings, treatment, and support,” added The Ellen Hermanson Foundation executive director, Anne Tschida Gomberg. “This past year we focused on identifying where the barriers to access exist, investing where needed, and sharing resources. We designated funding for a new nurse practitioner to provide education, prescriptions for screening, and to follow patients, while working in collaboration with the RN patient navigator and bilingual LCSW and outreach workers embedded in the community through our partner organizations. The East End needs access to high quality breast health care close to home, in a safe and convenient setting. We are committed to working closely with community partners to deliver this to all who reside here.”
“As a breast cancer patient, I have been privileged to be able to receive services through the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center and treatment through the Phillips Family Cancer Center. As a woman I understand the intimate needs and the trauma associated with the disease. As the Director of Cancer Services for Stony Brook Southampton Hospital I bring to the community my knowledge and expertise, coupled with my experience as a cancer patient,” said Laura J. Borghardt MS, MBA, CMD, who will oversee the community partnership program for breast health care funded by the grants.
“The Ellen Hermanson Foundation enables Stony Brook Southampton Hospital to provide stellar services to ALL women, regardless of their background, economic status, race, or creed, while ensuring every need is identified, addressed and ultimately met. Partnering with the EHF, it is my goal to offer women the cancer care they need without sacrificing the quality of care we expect and know at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. Women are not defined by their disease, so we are creating a program that addresses women as a whole — mind, body and spirit. Women have enough stressors in their life, they shouldn’t have to forego healthcare due to lack of insurance or funding, and with The Ellen Hermanson Foundation, we don’t have to.”