Cancer Society opens new Hope Lodge

The cost of travel can deter cancer patients from going to medical meccas like Philadelphia for their treatment.

With the help of some big donors, the American Cancer Society yesterday made it a little easier for patients who live more than 40 miles from here to afford treatment in this region's cancer hospitals.

It opened its newest Hope Lodge, which offers out-of-town cancer patients a free place to stay. The $7.3 million lodge, which has 37 hotellike rooms and a common cooking area meant to foster friendship and support, is near Fox Chase Cancer Center on land donated by Fox Chase.

The AstraZeneca Hope Lodge, the cancer society's 29th such facility, will begin accepting residents later this month. AstraZeneca won naming rights with a $2 million donation for the project.

The average stay at a Hope Lodge is four to six weeks. The cost of that kind of stay at a hotel can make it impossible for many cancer patients to afford care in Philadelphia, which has three National Cancer Institute centers and several other hospitals that do cancer research.

Garry Pincock, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society's Pennsylvania division, said the lodge would bring new patients here. Most of its visitors, he said, "wouldn't be able to come here for their treatment because they couldn't afford it."

Robert Young, chancellor of Fox Chase, said rural and small-town patients often lacked access to the kind of care that Philadelphians take for granted, and the cost of hotels is one of the reasons. "Small things sometimes make big decisions for cancer patients," he said.

Michael Seiden, president and CEO of Fox Chase, said he expected the lodge not only to attract more patients to his hospital but also to give them needed emotional support. If they strike up a conversation at the lodge, he said, they will not find someone who is there for a convention or a bachelor party, but someone who shares a challenging experience.

This is the Philadelphia area's first such lodge, and the cancer society estimates it will cost $450,000 a year to operate. The 30,000-square-foot facility is open to patients at any local hospital.

The cancer society expects 1,300 patients and their family members to use the Philadelphia lodge each year.

Officials at the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, which have large cancer-treatment programs, said they were unaware of any similar housing options here. Both refer patients to Hosts for Hospitals, a program that links patients to lodging in private homes. Jefferson also lets some patients and families stay in its dorms for a nominal fee.