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appeared 2 December 1998
Dedication Ceremony for Friend Resource Center
This Friday
Visiting the doctor has taken on a whole new meaning for patients at the UCSF Cancer
Center. Now, when patients go to the Cancer Center to receive a treatment or regular
check-up, they can also stop by a new cafe for a healthy meal, relax in a meditative
healing garden, receive help in tracking down patient information in a library, or shop
for a wig or prosthesis in a boutique designed exclusively for cancer patients.
The new complex, called the Ida and Joseph Friend Resource Center, will be officially
launched this Friday, December 4, at 4 p.m. A dedication ceremony will take place at the
Center, located on the first floor of the clinical cancer building at UCSF/Mount Zion
Medical Center, part of UCSF Stanford Health Care. Cancer patients, doctors, volunteers,
and community members will join together to celebrate the official opening of the new
center.
Joseph Friend, a business owner in San Francisco, lost his wife, Ida, to ovarian cancer
two years ago. His generous contributions to the UCSF Cancer Center helped to establish
the Ida and Joseph Friend Resource Center. In addition, last year, the Ida Infusion
Center, a facility where patients receive cancer treatments in a comfortable environment,
was established.
"My goal in life is to build a living memorial honoring Ida. As part of the healing
process, I have established the Ida and Joseph Friend Center so that we will always
remember Ida's ever-present smile and goodness. May her memory become a blessing to us
all," Friend said.
The new center will help establish a "one-stop shop" for cancer patients, and is
the only such facility in Northern California. Components of the new Friend Resource
Center include The Friend to Friend boutique; Ida's Cafe; Healing Garden; Tile Wall; and
the Friend Health Resource Center and Library.
"The Resource Center complex is an oasis for learning, for taking a break to read a
journal, for finding peace in a beautiful garden, for getting a fun hat that will make
patients smile, for having a healthy snack and for feeling a little warmth, beauty and
comfort," said Laura Esserman, director of the Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center,
who was instrumental in designing the new center. "We are incredibly grateful to Joe
Friend for putting forward his resources and realizing this project."
Links:
UCSF Cancer Center
Source: Abby Sinnott, News Services |
