Cancer treatment center delivers smiles with care
Berl Tiskus
RN Kathie Folts works with patients at the oncology clinic at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center.
Berl Tiskus
Each cancer patient has their own chemotherapy "recipe" for treatment.
Berl Tiskus
Nurse Lisa Bertoglio starts Roy Mathis on his chemotherapy recipe.
Berl Tiskus
Cheerful Heart provides a selection of wigs, scarves and hat for ladies who are losing their hair due to chemotherapy. Volunteers even teach ladies how to tie the scarves.
Berl Tiskus
Patient Roy Mathis smiles as Nurse Lisa Bertoglio starts him on his chemotherapy recipe. Mathis has lung cancer and visits the oncology clinic weekly.
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
POLSON — It’s “chemical warfare,” and they distribute “the agents.”
While this sounds like a covert operation, “they” are really registered nurses Lisa Bertoglio and Kathie Folts. They work at the Otto Klein Cancer Center Oncology Clinic at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Polson. The clinic is held on Tuesdays on the third floor of the building and was operated by the Montana Cancer Center before Providence St. Joseph Medical Center purchased it in July.
Directing the “noxious agents that attack fast growing cells” is Dr. Linda Ries. She comes to Providence St. Joseph’s oncology clinic from Missoula each week, where she provides care in an oncology private practice with Montana Cancer Specialists.
Kristy Beck-Nelson served as an administrator for that practice for 14 years. Now Director of Oncology Outpatient Services for Providence St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula and Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Polson, Beck-Nelson said the buyout is happening to oncologists all across the country.
This group was the last one in the state to make a deal with a hospital, Beck-Nelson said. The doctors are still in private practice but work in conjunction with Providence St. Patrick and Providence St. Joseph.
Medicare and sequestration ratcheted back the prices so much that oncology clinics could no longer afford to buy the cancer drugs, so most have partnered with hospitals.
From a patient’s point of view, everything is about the same — great nurses and volunteers from Cheerful Heart bringing soup and drinks.
“The only change is that the bill comes from the hospital,” Beck-Nelson said.
She’s not had a lot of patient complaints since the switch over, only an item or two.
Jim Zadra, a patient at the clinic, said he’s been meeting with Bertoglio and Folts for six or seven years.
On a first visit, a person might expect hushed voices and tiptoeing in the hall — but it’s actually noisy.
“(Patients) realize they aren’t dying today,” Bertoglio said.
Groups of patients talk, laugh, tell jokes and do trivia while they wait for their specific chemotherapy recipe. Some nap after they receive their treatments or read a book.
“If there’s a holiday, we have a theme,” Bertoglio said. “Kathie is the party coordinator.”
Cinco de Mayo brought margaritas (alcohol free), and almost every holiday has a little rubber duck for the occasion. There’s always a basket of candy at the front desk, and everyone is welcoming.
“First we tell them the rules,” Bertoglio said, grinning at the patients, who all love her.
“No complaining; get along with everybody; be nice to the nurses because we have big needles,” she said.
Zadra smiles.
The patients are originally seen in Missoula and then people whose treatments can be done in Polson come to Providence St. Joe’s.
“It beats the h—- out of Missoula,” said Roy Mathis, a lung cancer patient. “It’s closer and more family-oriented. ... Here we have Kathie and Lisa.”
“If you’ve driven to Missoula, with cars doing the ‘loopty-loopty’, you love being here,” Zane Kelly said.
Carol Kelly, Zane’s “sweetheart,” is a cancer survivor who still has a port in place and comes in once in a while to have it flushed.
“We’re the only place in town where people open shirts and feel chests,” Bertoglio said, with a mischievous grin. “Show us your ports.”
Ports are small medical appliances under the skin of a person’s chest hooked to a central venous catheter. In the oncology clinic, the catheter carries chemo medicines into a patient’s chest, helping them avoid constant “needle sticks.” It’s also used to draw blood and saves wear and tear on a patient’s veins from weekly treatments.
Cancer is smart, Bertoglio added. Like bacteria, it can mutate. So Dr. Ries changes protocols.
Folts and Bertoglio work unobtrusively, visiting with patients as they hook up IVs and check on people, asking how the week went and about specific issues, such as nausea or diarrhea, but they’ve also instituted a “neighborhood watch program.”
“Take a peek at your neighbor,” Bertoglio said. “See if she is too pale, too quiet.”
“We teach patients how to take care of themselves — signs and symptoms to look for,” Bertoglio said.
The clinic was named after Dr. Otto Klein, Jr.
“He was happy and grateful with the high-quality cancer treatment he received at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, but he wanted to have the quality of the surroundings match the amazing level of care,” according to the Providence St. Joseph website.
After her husband passed away from cancer, Sue Klein, serving as the Foundation Director at Providence St. Joe’s, revamped the clinic with donations from family and friends. An interior designer, Sue chose soothing colors and large, comfortable leather chairs for patient comfort. The clinic includes two exam rooms, two treatment rooms with space for eight patients, a waiting area for families that includes a kitchen and supportive care counseling to help patients and families. The Otto Klein Cancer Center opened in March of 2011.
Photographs taken by Art Lindstrom, another cancer casualty, hang on the walls.
The patients enjoy the comfortable surroundings as they support each other. If someone is losing his hair, another patient will rub a shiny bare skull and say, “See my head.”
Cheerful Heart, an all-volunteer group, has a selection of scarves, wigs and hats for ladies who have lost or are losing their hair.
Cheerful Heart volunteers provide non-medical help for cancer patients. Every Tuesday they serve soup to chemo patients. The Providence St. Joseph Medical Center kitchen makes the soup. Visiting with patients, volunteers deliver soup and drinks, such as coffee, water and juices, and then remove the dishes.
Cancer knows no economic boundaries. People from low-income housing and million-dollar lake front homes all deal with the disease, according to Folts and Bertoglio. The patients mesh and support each other, Bertoglio explained.
The nurses advocate for their patients, help them by explaining what to expect and give referrals to outside agencies and support services.
