Pictured left to right: Trina Casner, Wally Siltman, Kim Rodgers
Montgomery County Cancer Association (MCCA) presented Pana Community Hospital with a check for $3,500 on Friday. Wally Siltman, representing MCCA, was on hand and Pana Community Hospital President & CEO, Trina Casner and Kim Rodgers, Pana Community Hospital Foundation Executive Director accepted the check on behalf of the hospital.
MCCA is a not for profit organization that raises funds to help cancer patients in Montgomery County. In 2013, the organization raised over $160,000. The funds are given to area hospitals including Pana Community Hospital, which serves portions of Montgomery County. Other hospitals receiving funds included Hillsboro Area Hospital and St. Francis Hospital. MCCA also provides funding to Simmons Cancer Institute, which is part of SIU School of Medicine in Springfield. Simmons is currently working on a study to research causes of the high incidence of cancer in Montgomery County and other parts of Central Illinois.
Funds given to Pana Community Hospital will benefit current cancer patients that come to the hospital for chemotherapy. PCH is currently working on remodeling the room in which patients receive chemotherapy. Doctors Ben Esparaz and Dolores Estrada of the Cancer Care Specialists of Central Illinois see patients at Pana Community Hospital weekly with chemotherapy administered to some patients at the clinic.