Cancer Resource Center hires patient navigator

NORWAY — The Cancer Resource Center of Western Maine has hired Barb Perry, RN, a certified health and wellness coach, on a part-time basis to support cancer patients in the region with emotional, financial and other basic needs.
Perry, as a patient navigator, will team up with oncology social worker Stephanie LeBlond, LSW, another part-time member of the CRCofWM staff. Both positions are made possible via grant funding.

“We are excited to have Barb join our team,” Diane Madden, executive director, said. The center was established in 2015 to provide free wellness and supportive resources to individuals and families in western Maine affected by cancer.
“Barb’s experience as clinician, and most recently in developing a cancer survivor program for MaineHealth, will not only benefit patients and families facing the daily physical, emotional and financial challenges of cancer, but will have a positive impact in advancing the Center’s mission to ensure that no-one faces cancer alone,” Madden said.
Perry was a nurse practitioner for more than 20 years in several settings with various populations. She then assisted in developing and managing Maine’s statewide Tobacco Treatment Training Program for health professionals, which is administered by MaineHealth. She became a certified tobacco treatment specialist and managed both the inpatient Tobacco Treatment Program at Maine Medical Center and a MaineHealth outpatient clinic. More recently, Perry managed MaineHealth’s Cancer Survivorship Program and was involved in activities to improve comprehensive survivorship care and the overall quality of life for cancer survivors.
As a certified health and wellness coach, Perry has participated as a wellness provider in the Cancer Resource Center of Western Maine’s Live Well Program since last fall, providing individual wellness coaching and offering the “Finding Your New Normal” class for patients who are or have recently completed treatment.