Gateway to Hope provides comprehensive care at no cost to uninsured and underinsured individuals with or at a high risk of breast cancer through its partners' donated services.
In the beginning……
Dr. David Caplin, plastic surgeon, met Suzanne in 2004. She was a breast cancer victim who felt she couldn’t meet the expense of a double mastectomy because it would disrupt her family’s income flow and place additional burdens on her children. That was a choice born of self-sacrifice and ultimately ended her life.
“Suzanne was in her early 30s with two small children and a disabled husband,” Dr. Caplin recalls. “She was the sole breadwinner but had no insurance. When she found a lump in her breast she ignored it for two years because she knew that even if a mammogram confirmed a breast cancer diagnosis, she wouldn’t be able to afford the subsequent medical care. I had been treating her husband when I learned this, but by that time, she was very sick.”
Suzanne died not much longer after that leaving behind her disabled husband, who was unable to work, and her two young children.
Her death was the impetus that drove Dr. Caplin to create Gateway to Hope, an organization to help uninsured or underinsured women receive complimentary, comprehensive treatment for breast cancer through donated medical and surgical services plus all the ancillary assistant that going through a regimen of treatment requires – including (when needed) medication, medical supplies, wigs, bras, transportation, food and child care.
Dr. Caplin began asking medical professionals throughout the greater St. Louis area to donate their services to these women who couldn’t otherwise obtain treatment. His first call was to Dr. Marlys Schuh, an oncologic surgeon who agreed to co-found the organization with him and recruited her partners to perform lumpectomies and mastectomies.
And that’s how it all began.
Drs. Caplin and Schuh went on to find additional oncologists and radiation therapists who would each take on one or two new patients per year. As the need increased, the organization’s recruitment efforts widened. Today there are over 150 physicians, hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies and social service professionals who donate their services to take care of those who find themselves in the untenable situation of not having access to life-saving treatments.
Since that fateful day in 2004 when the seed for Gateway to Hope was planted, the organization has grown by leaps and bounds. In addition to the Partners and Providers, there is now a staff of six (three nurses who qualify the patients and oversee their treatment plans), two administrative personnel and an Executive Director. The patient load has also grown dramatically. 1n 2011, Gateway to Hope was able to provide care for 94 patients. This was the largest group to date, surpassing the number of patients served in 2010 by almost 30 patients.
As Dr. Caplin so aptly puts it, “Our system for ensuring that patients aren’t billed for any service is simple: When Gateway to Hope is stamped on their charts, they are never charged.”
If you need us, give us a call at 314-569-1113. Time is of the essence when we’re saving your life!
