Patient Navigator Program at Queens Cancer Center

The Queens Cancer Center of Queens Hospital Center has become the first location in New York State to have the Patient Navigator Program through the American Cancer Society with the support of AstraZeneca.
“With funding from AstraZeneca, the American Cancer Society Patient Navigator Program at Queens Cancer Center will enable us to assist patients with personalized community resources and support,” said Queens Hospital Center Executive Director Antonio D. Martin. “This program proactively reaches those patients who are most in need of specialized services and support, providing the critical link to local resources that will improve their outcomes and quality of life.”
Through the program, a trained patient navigator will be on-site. They will assist cancer patients and survivors and their caregivers by assisting them in medical, financial and emotional areas.
“We know what cancer does to an individual’s life,” said Denise Murray, the Senior Director of Patient & Family Services at the American Cancer Society. “It has a way to really unravel one’s life and it requires a lot of listening and support.”
Dr. Margaret Kemeny, the Director of the Queens Cancer Center, said that many times cancer patients do not have a way to know about all the resources that are available to them. She also said that the navigator program will make the lives of patients easier.
Queens Hospital Center patient navigator Gwyn Giaquinto said that the program will provide guidance throughout a person’s treatment and will also help improve the quality of life for the patients as well as their families and caregivers.
Former Queens Borough President Claire Shulman, who is also a cancer survivor, said that have this program at the hospital “adds another star in the crown of this institution.”
“Having a navigator take people through this route that is sometimes very emotionally scarring is extremely important to the care of the patients,” said Shulman, who is also a former Queens Hospital Center nurse.
Over the next five years, AstraSeneca Northeast Oncology Region Customer Account Leader Nicole Den Ouden said they hope to launch 50 more new patient navigator sites throughout the United States.
The Queens Cancer Center of Queens Hospital Center is located at 82-68 164th Street in Jamaica.