It was announced on Nov. 5 that new grants from the Rita & Alex Hillman Foundation will greatly support cancer patients that reside within rural areas. For Carbon, Emery and Grand counties, the Huntsman at Home program is preparing to launch.
A Hillman Innovations In Care grant supports the expansion of the Huntsman Cancer Institute’s (HCI) Huntsman at Home program. This program will allow the extension of services beyond the Salt Lake City area into the three aforementioned rural counties. This will be completed using a combination of remote monitoring as well as on-ground and telehealth strategies that will be led by nurse practitioners.
Cancer patients that reside within these areas are known to be particularly under-served and most cancer care does not extend to the home setting. This is where many patients and family caregivers struggle.
The program provides hospital-quality clinical care that allows individuals to be discharged from the hospital sooner and receive continuing care at home. It also addresses many unmet needs for patients and families, including symptoms and side effects that result in emergency visits and re-hospitalization.
It has been stated that the program is expected to decrease length of hospitalization, re-hospitalization and emergency visits. It will also improve patient outcomes and family caregiver’s well-being.
Karen Titchener, director of the program, stated that they will begin the strategic and operational planning in January and hope to be operational by next August for the cancer patients in the three counties.