Cancer Care, Close to Home
Dealing with a cancer diagnosis is challenging enough. But what if you weren’t sure your treatment center was right for you?
Meet Larry and Holly, who faced this unsettling question. Learn why they decided to come to the Yung Family Cancer Center at St. Elizabeth — even though it meant crossing the river and traveling to Edgewood, Ky.
Q: Why Did You Switch Your Cancer Care to St. Elizabeth?
Holly and Larry were already receiving cancer treatment elsewhere when they began to wonder if they were in the best place for their needs. Holly called a family friend for advice, who just happened to be Doug Flora, MD, Executive Medical Director of Oncology Services at St. Elizabeth Healthcare. Like Holly, Dr. Flora lives in Anderson Township on Cincinnati’s east side.
“During that conversation, Doug didn’t push St. Elizabeth,” Holly says. “He just talked about the care. It started to feel like this was where I needed to be. And then when my husband and I came over to see the center, we realized — it’s a wonderful place.”
Larry had a similar experience in that he felt dissatisfied with the care he was receiving elsewhere. He called the Yung Family Cancer Center and was shocked when Dr. Flora spent an hour talking to him.
“Dr. Doug is the man, the myth, the legend right here,” says Larry today. “He is a wonderful doctor — the best doctor I ever had.”
Q: What is Special About the Yung Family Cancer Center?
Holly and Larry agree that the staff at the cancer center offer much more than medical treatment. They offer kindness and compassion.
“When you walk in, most of the time somebody’s playing the piano and that just puts you in a good mood,” Larry explains. “I talk to Dr. Doug for a while, and he either pumps me up or gives me a hug, whatever I need at the moment.”
Holly felt so well cared for at St. Elizabeth that she began looking forward to her appointments. “Every person I’ve come in contact with truly seems like they care about me and everybody in here,” she says.
Dr. Flora knows just how much people care because he’s been on the “other side” of cancer treatment. In 2018, he was diagnosed with kidney cancer and entrusted his care to the team at St. Elizabeth. “I know what it feels like when everything is torn asunder, and all of a sudden, it’s chaos and terror,” says Dr. Flora, who is now cancer-free. “When you’re with all these people pulling for you, it feels different.”
Q: You Live in Ohio. Has it Been Worth the Drive to Come to St. Elizabeth?
Holly and Larry travel about 25 minutes for their appointments — a hop, skip and a jump from Holly’s perspective. “I would drive two more hours to come here, where I’m not a number. I can walk in and truly feel like somebody cares about me.”
Larry agrees. “You’ve got the best facility, the best nurses and the number one doctors,” he says. “Nobody around here treats you as well as these people here. Why would you go anywhere else?”
Discover More: Cancer Care, Close to Home
Holly’s Video Story
Larry’s Video Story
