Foundation Funds $95K Cancer Patient Navigator Position at Huntington Hospital

The Don Monti Memorial Research Foundation will underwrite a $95,000 position at Huntington Hospital that will help cancer patients navigate their way through the complexities of the health-care system.

This hospital cancer patient navigator will assist patients with tasks, such as making appointments and ensuring patients comply with care recommendations, to make sure they get the best possible clinical outcome.

“Patients and families who are dealing with a cancer diagnosis have a great weight on their shoulders and patient navigators help to take some of that away by organizing and making sense of all of the services a cancer patient needs,” Gerard Brogan, Jr., MD, executive director of Huntington Hospital, said in a press release. “We are very grateful for the Monti Saladino family’s generous donation that will make this vital service for cancer patients possible.”

Caroline Monti Saladino, president of the Don Monti Memorial Research Foundation, saw the cancer patient navigator post successfully implemented at other institutions and decided it would be a good addition to Huntington Hospital.

“It is our great honor to be able to provide this vital function for patients being treated in the Don Monti Cancer Center at Huntington Hospital,” Saladino said. “We have seen the impact this role has had on patient care at North Shore University Hospital and we are so pleased to bring it here to our own community.”

Tita and Joseph Monti founded The Don Monti Memorial Research Foundation in 1972 in memory of their son Don who passed away from myeloid leukemia at age 16. To this day, the Monti and Saladino families continue their dedication to their ”trinity,” which is patient care, research and education.

Image via Huntington Hospital: (l-r) Danielle Saladino Faria; Gerard Brogan, Jr., MD; Arthur Saladino; Caroline Monti Saladino; Lyndsay Burkhart, RN; Marie Roggenkamp, RN; and Jessica Shremshock, RN.