Patients can’t afford gas to get to the hospital: how we help

The Alan Ghitis Association has several goals (Cure, Care, Prevent) and “Care” is about making patients’ lives easier where we can.

The Alan Ghitis Patient Support Fund honors the memory of Alan Ghitis by providing emergency financial assistance to UCLA patients with melanoma and other cancers.

Each patient or family in need is eligible for one $50.00 Visa gift card to provide support for food, lodging, transportation, etc. We thank all donors that make this project possible.

If you are a patient at UCLA with cancer and in need of financial help, reach out to your social worker: they will explain possibilities, including the Alan Ghitis Patient Support Fund.

Here are examples of people that could benefit from those funds:

• One patient drove from Arkansas to Los Angeles for brain surgery, but learned her tumor was inoperable and required 10 days of radiation. The patient’s family was staying with relatives in Bakersfield and driving 6 hours per day to and from Westwood. They exhausted their savings on travel expenses and were concerned about affording gas to drive home. They were very appreciative of parking vouchers and support from the Ghitis Fund to purchase gas.

• One patient had acute lymphoblastic leukemia that had unfortunately relapsed. The patient’s family members lived in Santa Maria and were field workers. Due to financial stressors, they were unable to participate in the patient’s treatment or provide financial support to his wife and son. The Ghitis Fund helped to fill this gap.

• One patient was diagnosed with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. He was hospitalized for a second time and had to have extensive surgery. His family was experiencing extreme financial hardship. Their many challenges included not being able to pay for parking at the hospital where the patient and his wife’s newborn infant was in the intensive care unit. The Ghitis Fund helped to meet this need.

Increased food and gas prices are making it harder and harder for families to get through such painful times. On top of the emotional and physical toll cancer will take on them, the financial hardships add a big burden. Our program helps patients with emergency costs that occur while being treated at UCLA. Not having to worry about how to purchase gas to get to the hospital is one less worry for families, especially now.

Would you like to participate in our Care projects? Set up a recurring donation today!