A century of low-cost screening for cancer
Columbus Cancer Clinic celebrates years of saving lives
“Patients are not only surprised to hear about the cancer clinic, but they’re pleasantly surprised. Patients who are uninsured or underinsured do not think they can afford a mammogram. This allows them to have a mammogram performed, which is extremely useful.”
When Merri Pugh walked into the Columbus Cancer Clinic in July 2020, she was terrified.
Terrified that the lump in her breast might be cancerous. Terrified as to how she might be treated without much to offer in terms of payment. Terrified of the journey that might lie ahead.
Still, the 58-year-old Lithopolis resident knew from having a mammogram there 10 years ago that the cancer-screening center that serves anyone no matter their ability to pay would be the best place to help her figure out what was going on.
Dr. Jeffrey Marable
Chief clinical officer for the group of community health centers
She says she couldn’t have been more right about – or thankful for – the century-old clinic on the West Side.
“She did the exam, and I knew in the back of my mind that it wasn’t good,” Pugh said. “But then, she wheeled her stool over to me and held my hand. … She walked me down the hall to a different room and held my hand the whole way.”
And even though the news wasn’t what Pugh wanted to hear – that the lump was most likely cancer and clinic staff were referring her to an oncologist – Pugh said the staff and volunteers made her feel at ease and that she’d be taken care of no matter what.
Beyond setting her up with appointments at Ohio State’s Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center, where it was confirmed she had breast cancer that had spread, Pugh recalled receiving a basket from the clinic that contained a crocheted blanket with the word “HOPE” stitched on it and handwritten cards.
“It makes me emotional just thinking about it,” Pugh said about the center that is overseen by and housed in the same building as Lifecare Alliance.
“It was a very dark time in my life, and they were such a light,” continued Pugh, who takes only an oral medication right now to keep her cancer at bay. “They are the greatest. They played a huge role in saving my life. Right behind God, my oncologist – they’re right up there.”
Chuck Gehring, president and chief executive officer of Lifecare Alliance, can’t help but wonder just how many lives the Columbus Cancer Clinic has saved, directly or indirectly, over the past 100 years through cancer screenings and the social work it provides to those diagnosed with the disease.
Its centennial milestone will be celebrated Sunday at the center’s annual fashion-show fundraiser, which this year is titled “100 Years of Hope and Support.”
“It saves lives,” said Gehring, whose nonprofit assumed control of the independent clinic in 2005. “It changes people’s lives so they can go out and help other people.”
As the first free-standing cancer clinic in the country – and the only free cancer clinic left in the state, according to officials – Gehring said the center’s impact goes well beyond its own patients.
It’s often cited, he said, as the inspiration for Ohio State’s Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital, since its namesake volunteered there for years.
The clinic’s current director, Christin Brown, is a former social worker and oncology nurse who has been in the position for five years. She beams with pride as she tells the story of how the center was started back in 1921 by Catherine “Carrie” Nelson Black, who also founded Lifecare Alliance in 1898.
“She was obviously a woman well beyond her years,” Brown said. “She believed getting control of cancer was a civic responsibility.”
Black joined with two physicians, J.F. Baldwin and Andre Crotti, to form the clinic.
While the center has moved around to different buildings over the decades and changed its offerings, its core has always been the mission of preventing cancer and serving the underserved.
From January through August, the
clinic performed nearly 3,000 cancer screenings, Brown said. A majority of those of were breast-related – mammograms or ultrasounds – but the agency also performs Pap smears to test for cervical cancer, prostate exams and tests that screen for colon cancer.
“Sixty-percent of the patients we see have no insurance and 34% don’t speak English,” Brown said. “We are screening these patients regardless of their ability to pay. We’re still doing it.”
Patients who can afford to pay do so on a sliding scale, and if they do happen to have insurance, that can be billed as well, Brown said.
That’s why the Columbus Cancer Clinic tends to come up in nearly every well-visit appointment at Primaryone Health, said Dr. Jeffrey Marable, chief clinical officer for the group of community health centers.
“Patients are not only surprised to hear about the cancer clinic, but they’re pleasantly surprised,” Marable said. “Patients who are uninsured or underinsured
do not think they can afford a mammogram. This allows them to have a mammogram performed, which is extremely useful.”
Marable said that one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and it’s crucial that women have a mammogram on a regular basis and not just one every 10 years.
While identifying early cases is great, he said the Columbus Cancer Clinic doesn’t stop at an initial screening. It refers patients to oncologists and surgeons in the community and follows up through treatment.
Brown said depending on income level, the clinic can provide transportation to appointments, wigs for hair loss, assistance with rent, access to a food pantry and other services.
She’s often reminded of a young single mom who was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer and was facing eviction. The clinic paid her rent.
“We provide stabilization,” Brown said. “We take that worry away so she
can focus on her treatment.”
Cancer treatment is tough enough, Gehring said, but imagine going through it while being laid off or living in a homeless shelter.
“Somebody has to help these people at their lowest moment,” Gehring said.
Dr. William Farrar, chief executive officer of the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, said he’s been involved with the clinic since 1976 when he was in residency and volunteered to do exams. Farrar has been on the cancer clinic’s board of directors since the early 1980s.
“It plugs a hole in the treatment of cancer in Columbus,” said Farrar, adding that the James Cancer Hospital has treated at least 15 patients referred from the clinic in the past 18 months.
“I’ve been impressed with it ever since the day I walked into the clinic and what they’re able to accomplish basically through donations.”
The clinic operates at a deficit annually, Gehring said, with endowments set up specifically to make up the difference.
The clinic was $600,000 in the red the year before Lifecare Alliance took it over, but Gehring said the alliance didn’t hesitate to add the clinic to its list of services, which also includes Meals on Wheels. Clients said they needed access to this type of care, he said.
Being under the umbrella organization now allows the clinic to have help with fundraising and billing so the providers there can focus on care, Gehring added, so the clinic operates much less in the red these days.
With all the benefits the clinic provides, he said the Lifecare Alliance board couldn’t allow it to disappear, which was a possibility, Gehring said.
“This is the last free cancer clinic in the state,” Gehring said. “People come from all over the state. Someone in Ashtabula comes here … because they say, ‘I don’t have anywhere else to go.’” award@dispatch.com @Allisonaward