From left, Katressa Roberts, Cheri Wildridge, Danielle Perry and Krystal Chisham work with programs of the Columbus Regional Health Foundation that help reduce the cost of medications and treatments for patients.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Practically every day, four women who work inside the walls of Columbus Regional Hospital say they hear the same astonished reaction from the patients they help.
“They think it can’t be real,” said Cheri Wildridge, coordinator of the Medication Assistance Program (MAP). That program is among multiple services offered through the Columbus Regional Health Foundation and the VIMCare Clinic that alleviate the expense of medications and treatments that could further burden patients.
For cancer patients, that can be particularly significant. And when the women who do this work are at the top of their game, they’re helping before patients even know it.
Wildridge knows, though. Over the years, the programs that began with just her and a simple idea 25 years ago have benefitted local patients to the tune of millions of dollars in savings. Since then and through June 30, the MAP program has procured medications with a wholesale value of more than $53 million for local patients.
In that first year, Wildridge said, the total was only around $98,000. Back then, she didn’t have the benefit of computer databases and online networks of potential resources nor the connections that since have been made for the benefit of patients.
She also didn’t have the team that now does this work.
Along with MAP coordinator Danielle Perry, Cancer MAP coordinator Krystal Chisham and patient advocate Katressa Roberts, Wildridge and the team have a mission that Perry explained from a patient’s perspective.
“You have patients that when they heard the word ‘cancer,’ their mind’s going 1oo miles a minute. You don’t want to think about the cost, but that is a factor. ‘How long am I going to live and how am I going to pay the bill if I can’t work?’” Perry said.
Because she and her team go to work fast when they know a big co-payment may be headed to a patient, and because they have developed relationships and networks with drugmakers, grant providers and an array of potential funding and service providers, help is almost always available.
“To be able to stop that from reaching the patient and them being blindsided by a high co-pay has been very rewarding,” Perry said.
Only in the past two-and-a-half years or so has there been a separate Cancer Medication Assistance Program linked to the VIMCare Clinic and the CRH Foundation, but the need is clear. Chisham said in one extreme case, a patient’s chemotherapy treatment cost $14,000 for one capsule, and the course of therapy required seven such capsules. The team was able to remove the burden of those costs on the patient.
Oftentimes, Perry said, the team members work together to build bridges and link people to resources even for day-to-day expenses for patients who may even need help to put gas in the car or just meet household expenses.
Cancer patients may need more than most, Chisham said.
“When they come into my office and they sit down and they’ve talked to the doctor, sometimes they just need somebody just to listen and that they can focus and cry,” she said. “Basically, that’s what they need.”
She said she tells them not to worry about the cost of medication, but rather to concentrate on getting well and getting through treatment. She tells them she and her team will help with the costs of medications.
“The patients that are brought to me that are needing help financially, I would say probably 95% qualify. There’s very few that don’t qualify for some assistance,” Chisham said.
“They’ve just heard the worst diagnosis they could possibly get, and now they’re trying to figure out, ‘What am I going to do?’,” she said. “I’m a counselor at some point, because they need other resources, whether it’s through their church, a food pantry, maybe supplies for their children to go to school, so you have to reach out to other organizations.
“… I have patients that their loved one has passed away and they still come by. They want that hug or they want that pat on the back. They just need someone to listen, they want to share a memory or something. It’s not just treating the patient with medication. It’s emotional, it’s mental, what they need,” she said.
Roberts said she enjoys the personal connections she makes with patients and the difference her work can make for them. “If they can’t afford their medicine, they kind of shut down,” she said. “If we help them, kind of guide them through what they need to do, they seem to be more dedicated to improving their own health because it can be very overwhelming.”
Wildridge said the generosity of the community has made these efforts possible. The annual Reverse Raffle event raises funds (this year’s event took place Sept. 29), but so do donations to the foundation, which can be designated for particular purposes.
“For all 25 years, the foundation has been almost like a silent partner. They say, ‘OK, we entrust you with this work, which is such a privilege, because it’s been built with many, many people being a part of it,” Wildridge said. “They have trusted all these years to continue that.”
And Wildridge, who’s been there from the first call for help on behalf of a patient, said there’s just something special about this group. And that’s by design.
“Each of these individual ladies have been chosen specifially for their roles because of the attributes and skill sets that they bring,” Wildridge said. “And the heart of a servant, and dedication to the patient.”
There also are many larger national charities that offer assistance, including the HealthWell Foundation, the Patient Access Network and the Musella Foundation to name a few.
Looking ahead, Wildridge said, there is an expectation that this small group will be growing.
“The community will hear more about that,” Wildridge said. “We’re in the works of discussing that now.”
