“We are huge fans of the STAR Program. For years, we searched for a way to make our rehabilitation, supportive oncology, and psychosocial services more accessible to our patients. Through education of our oncology and rehabilitation providers, the STAR initiative has helped us to better understand how, why, and what cancer rehabilitation services can be confidently provided to our patients. We are so excited to be offering these services to our patients in this innovative fashion! Working together to build the program has been an incredibly rewarding experience for me and our team!”
-Andrea McKee, M.D.
Chairman Department of Radiation Oncology
Sophia Gordon Cancer Center
Lahey Clinic
“I like the STAR Program a lot and think it brings objective goals with checklists and protocols.”
-J. Timothy Sherwood, M.D.
Mary Washington Healthcare
“Overall, the STAR program has been hugely beneficial to our organization. Not only has it allowed rehab personnel “a spot at the table” during the oncological conversation, but this training has focused our efforts in how our program can grow. The question has always been: ‘What can we do better?’ This is it.”
-Megan Pfarr DPT, CLT
Physical Therapist
Certified Lymphedema Therapist
STAR Program Coordinator
Prevea Therapy Institute
St. Vincent Regional Cancer Center
“We decided to implement STAR at Spectrum Health because it is the right thing to do for our patients. The Spectrum Health Regional Cancer Center has a longstanding commitment to providing the best possible care for people undergoing cancer treatment. As part of the cancer care continuum, we are developing excellent survivorship services. Because of this strong commitment to our patients, we teamed up with Oncology Rehab Partners to bring the STAR Program® to the Spectrum Health Regional Cancer Center’s survivorship program. It’s one piece of the puzzle. As experts in oncology rehabilitation, we can help our patients by anticipating their needs and questions. We know we are providing greater possibilities for our patients.”
-Shannon Schulz, OTR MM, Director, Outpatient Rehabilitation
Spectrum Health
“For years, cancer was about survival – will the patient live 5, 10 or 15 years? Now, it’s about living with cancer as a life-long, chronic disease and doing so with the best possible quality of life. Life after cancer treatment is not a new normal; life can be so much better with rehab, just like after a major cardiac event. We can help patients get back to their lives.”
-Vickie Heierman, Rehab Manager
Kentucky One Health St. Joseph, Lexington, KY
“The STAR Program has brought our whole survivorship program together. It has given us the evidence-based tools that we were missing and showed us how to make all the pieces work in unison. Our patients are doing better now because we have the STAR Program.”
-Sue Schmeichel, Nurse Navigator
Holy Family Memorial Medical Center, Manitowoc, WI
“With the STAR Program we are able to provide a level of care that is higher and more consistent than what we were already providing to our patients. As we move forward with the STAR Program, I can only see the level of care improving.”
-Syndal Ortman, RN, DNP, FNP-BC
Hennepin County Comprehensive Cancer Center
“Cancer rehabilitation before, during and after therapy is the largest unaddressed need in oncology. Routine referrals to cancer rehabilitation should not be considered optional-they should be considered an essential component of high-quality cancer care.”
-Dr. Barry Brooks, Medical Oncologist, US Oncology Network, Dallas, TX