Local Support to Enhance Cancer Care in Ashtabula County

Two local organizations, The Rotary Foundation of Conneaut and UH Conneaut Hospital Thrift Shop, have generously donated gifts totaling $50,000 to University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center at UH Conneaut Medical Center. The funding will be utilized to upgrade and expand cancer treatment services to better serve patients close to home.

UH Conneaut has a rich history of compassionate care in the community, providing the highest level of comprehensive medical and surgical services, emergency medical care, in-patient hospital services and outpatient testing and services for residents in Ashtabula County and surrounding areas.

Basic cancer treatment services have been available at UH Conneaut, but advanced services have been added over the years. Renovations are in-progress in order to:

• Create new infusion suites within the outpatient specialty care unit.
• Build private exam rooms and an ADA accessible bathroom.
• Construct a physician’s office for private consultations with patients/families.
• Enhance aesthetics to ensure privacy and a healing environment that reflects the expert care, compassion and skill provided by the physicians, nurses and staff.

“In Ashtabula County, cancer is the second leading cause of death, and many patients who were previously diagnosed had to travel in order to receive appropriate treatment,” said Jason Glowczewski, PharmD, MBA, FASHP, Chief Operating Officer of UH Conneaut, Geneva and Geauga Medical Centers. “We took on this ambitious expansion to give our community members more advanced care when they need us the most. Expansions of UH Seidman Cancer Centers at both of our hospitals in Ashtabula County will help us to create comfortable, healing environments. We are extremely grateful to our local partners for their generous contributions that are helping us make this possible.”

Lori McLaughlin and Chris Brecht are both members of The Rotary Club of Conneaut. Chris is a UH Conneaut board member and Lori is a former board member. They both understood the need for funding of this very important project because many of their family, friends and acquaintances have been affected by cancer. 

“Having University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center in our rural community means we can get the highest quality care nearby,” said Lori, who is also UH Seidman Cancer Center Fundraising Co-Chair. “Now patients and their caregivers won’t need to drive over an hour in unpredictable Northeast Ohio weather to get treatments.”

The Rotary Foundation of Conneaut is the local foundation of the Rotary Club. Lori and Chris decided to gauge interest from other club members in giving directly to the Foundation specifically for this cause. They spoke at multiple meetings, made phone calls, and sent texts to see if anyone else was interested. After receiving several immediate responses, they were soon on their way to reach their $25,000 goal.

“We are excited to be a part of this vitally important campaign and appreciate the generous support of the Conneaut Rotarians and the entire local community in reaching our goal of $400,000 very soon,” emphasized Lori. “The pandemic has been devastating to our community, but cancer continues to be a pandemic of its own, and the University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center at UH Conneaut will greatly ease the burden to the community.”

UH Conneaut Hospital Thrift Shop, run entirely by volunteers, also made a donation of $25,000 for the expansion.

“The shop started in the 1970s as a way to help a small town hospital and over the years has taken on all kinds of different dimensions, eventually becoming a consignment shop and now a thrift shop,” explained Cheryl Johnston, President of UH Conneaut Hospital Thrift Shop, who has been volunteering her time for ten years.

“Throughout the changes over the years, the primary intention has always been to help the hospital and provide scholarship funding in the community,” Cheryl added. “We have donated more than $100,000 in scholarship money. We have a number of ladies that volunteer here that have battled cancer, so when this opportunity to help expand the cancer center came along, we knew we wanted to be a part of it.”

Cheryl explained that with the town downsizing over the years, there aren’t a lot of places for community members to go shopping. If any donated items can’t be used at the shop, they are given to surrounding churches, Goodwill and the Salvation Army as a way to keep the giving cycle going. This year during the pandemic, they were fortunate enough to be able to make sizeable donations in scholarship funding as well as to the hospital.

The cost to expand cancer services at UH Conneaut is more than $400,000.

If you are interested in learning how to support the UH Seidman Cancer Center at UH Conneaut, please contact Development Officer Emilie Gottsegen at Emilie.Gottsegen@UHhospitals.org or 330-998-3343.