A Community Partner at Relay For Life

 In Blog

Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton strives to be more than just a medical center.

The hospital and its staff understand that Cooley Dickinson is part of a larger community, in which patients are also neighbors, friends, and family. Cooley Dickinson is known for its presenting sponsorship of the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life of Hampshire County, and Madelyn Breen, a longtime oncology nurse is seen as the face of Cooley at the event.

Rightfully so. Breen has worked at Cooley Dickinson for over 45 years. Though she officially retired in 2011, Breen continues to work in the hospital’s cancer care program. She still leads the Cooley Crusaders, one of the hospital’s staff-led Relay For Life teams, and she has been involved with the event since its premier season in Hampshire County 18 years ago.

“On a larger scale, because we are a community hospital,” said Breen, “it’s important for us to be involved in community activities. And personally, I have lost people to cancer. The people that I care for, whether they are patients, friends or family, are the inspiration for me to fight and to take part in Relay For Life.”

Cooley Dickinson, like Breen, has been with Hampshire County’s Relay from the beginning.  Its sponsorship and team donations have facilitated a stronger connection with patients and the county’s residents. This year, Cooley Dickinson presented a $10,000 sponsorship to the event.

Janice is proud of Cooley Dickinson Hospital, to which she has strong ties. She worked there for five years in the Marketing Department, and her two daughters and grandson were born there. She is a friend and former colleague of Madelyn and has worked with Madelyn and other leaders of Relay for over five years.

This year, the hospital’s Relay sponsorship comes while the Mass General Cancer Center at Cooley Dickinson is being built.

Avital Carlis became the administrative director of the new cancer center at the end of 2014. Relocating from Jamaica Plain near Boston to Northampton with her family has been long in coming as Carlis worked on the relationship between Cooley Dickinson and Mass General.

“Cooley Dickinson Hospital is right in the center of Northampton. We see ourselves as being a member of the town,” said Carlis. “It’s a lot of what drew me here to Cooley Dickinson. These are not only our patients, but also our neighbors who we might see at the market, or our friends and family who we spend our days with.”

The cancer center is coming after what Carlis describes as a long and happy Mass General Hospital affiliation that Cooley Dickinson has had since 2009. Carlis said that the staff is committed to treating patients with the best care available and its affiliation with Mass General gives them that increased opportunity.

With the affiliation, Carlis said, Cooley Dickinson cancer patients receive the standard of care that they would find at the major hospital in Boston, including the same chemotherapy regimens and genetic counseling. 

“More than anything, we want the cancer center to give the confidence to our community that we’re providing the best care right here at home,” Carlis said. “Patients will have the same access here as they would at a hospital in Boston. They’ll save those four hours driving back and forth every single day.”

This will be Carlis’ first Relay For Life as a member of the Cooley Dickinson community. She said she is looking forward to the event, which will be held June 19 and 20 this year in Look Memorial Park.

“We’ll be there and letting everyone know about the cancer center,” said Carlis. “What it will look like and what it will offer to our current and future patients.”

The community can be sure to see Breen and Carlis, as well as other members of the Cooley Dickinson staff, representing the Cooley Crusaders and other teams as well.

To learn more about Cooley Dickinson Hospital, visit cooley-dickinson.org. To volunteer or donate to Relay For Life, visit www.relayforlife.org/hampshirecountyma or email hamprelay@gmail.com

Recommended Posts

Leave a Comment

Contact Us

We're not around right now. But you can send us an email and we'll get back to you, asap.

Not readable? Change text.