Most cancer patients who undergo treatment endure pain, fevers and nausea, with some symptoms so severe they seek care from hospital emergency departments.
However, the happenings of an ED and the stress it can evoke in an ill patient is "an assault on your well-being," said Richard Dean, PhD, who took his wife to Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Hospital's ED many times while she battled ovarian cancer six years ago, according to The Baltimore Sun. Mr. Dean suggested to hospital officials that they open an urgent care center dedicated to cancer patients, and they listened.
"Anyone who gets cancer discovers it's just a messy disease," Mr. Dean, an adjunct professor at Morgan State University in Baltimore, told The Baltimore Sun. "Your white blood count runs down, you get a fever, and you're at really high risk for infection and you go sit for hours in a waiting room with a bunch of kids with the flu."
Johns Hopkins' cancer urgent care center opened in 2014, according to the report.
The center is in a space adjacent to where patients undergo chemotherapy treatment. It is open 12 hours a day on weekdays and will be open to patients on Saturdays beginning in March.
Unlike normal urgent care centers where patients can just walk in, patients who want to go to Hopkins' cancer urgent care center call a hotline and are told to come to the center if nurses cannot adequately address their complaint over the phone, according to the report.
"We knew sending our patients to the emergency room was not in their best interest," said Sharon Krumm, PhD, RN, director of nursing administration at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, according to the report. "If they have a heart problem or a stroke, yes, it's a good place for them, but that's not what was happening."