- California: UCLA will now offer voluntary, no-cost mental health screenings to incoming freshmen and transfer students, Chancellor Gene Block has announced. The screening involves a brief online survey, and individuals who need and want help can take an eight-week, no-cost online program. Students whose needs go beyond the scope of the online program will be referred or treated elsewhere with the UCLA clinic network. "To our knowledge, no other university has ever attempted screening of this nature and scale," Block said (Rinker, Kaiser Health News/Sacramento Bee, 9/28).
- Georgia: Montana Brown, a 24-year-old nurse who survived cancer twice as a child, has just begun her career as a pediatric nurse at the hospital that treated her. Brown joined the staff at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's AFLAC Cancer & Blood Disorders Center after beating cancer first at age 2 then again at age 15. Brown said, "Never in a million years did I think that at the age of 24 I would have achieved my biggest and wildest dream—to work at the hospital I was treated at as a child/teenager" (WXIA, 9/27).
- New York: Kaleida Health in November will open a $270 million women and children's hospital in Buffalo. Oishei Children's Hospital will provide specialized pediatric care, labor and delivery services, post-partum care, high-risk pregnancy care, women's health services, and gynecological services. Hospital officials estimate that 150 to 200 patients at the old Women & Children's Hospital will be transferred to the new facility when it opens (Paavola, Becker's Hospital Review, 9/27).
What they value: 5 types of cancer patients
Cancer patients have more choices for their care than ever before. To attract patients in this fiercely competitive landscape, you must invest your limited resources in the right services—ones that will earn patients' trust and improve their experience.
Our infographic is your guide to understanding the five types of patients and what they value in a cancer provider.