ATLANTA (November 12, 2007) – LAWFUEL – Legal Newswire – The American Cancer Society honored Kilpatrick Stockton Senior Partner David Zacks and his law partners with a special recognition award for their vision and leadership in support of the Society’s Patient Resource Navigation Program. Zacks and Kilpatrick Stockton have raised more than $540,000 to support the program, as well as the Society’s South Atlantic Division Call Center in Atlanta.
The award was presented on November 9 during an awards dinner at the Division’s Annual Volunteer Leadership Conference in Atlanta. Hundreds of Society volunteers from the Division, which includes seven states stretching from Georgia to Maryland and the District of Columbia, attended the two-day conference.
“The partners at Kilpatrick Stockton chose to honor David after he served as chairman of the American Cancer Society’s National Board of Directors by raising more than $200,000 to be donated to the charity of David’s choice,” said Division Board of Directors Member Peggy B. Baxter, who presented the award on behalf of the Society. “This was the beginning of the new approach to patient service known as Patient Resource Navigation. Overall, David and his partners have raised more than $540,000 to support the program.”
The American Cancer Society’s Patient Resource Navigation System is a part of the Society’s Cancer Resource Network, which includes such services as the 24×7 call center and website, www.cancer.org, along with the Cancer Survivors Network. The program places specially trained Society staff in hospitals where patients are diagnosed and treated for cancer. Navigators listen carefully to patients and their concerns and serve as a source of support and information for people who have been recently diagnosed with cancer, are undergoing treatment or who are in recovery. They also provide access to a variety of local support groups and educational programs to ease the cancer burden. In Georgia, there are currently five patient navigators onsite at hospitals, with three more navigators scheduled to be placed in medical facilities by the end of the year. In the South Atlantic Division, the Society has placed patient navigators onsite at 14 hospitals.
In the past year, navigators in facilities throughout the Division have served more than 4,600 patients and made referrals to nearly 11,000 services. A total of 31 percent of patients served were African American or Hispanic, and 30 percent of patients served can be classified as either uninsured or under-insured.
The Atlanta-based American Cancer Society is the nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives and diminishing suffering from cancer through research, education, advocacy and service. For information about cancer, call 1.800.ACS.2345, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or log onto www.cancer.org.
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