Epic contribution supports WVU Cancer Institute, WVU Medicine Children’s

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A contribution to WVU Medicine from software provider Epic will bolster efforts to reduce the cancer burden in West Virginia and help families with sick children. 

Wisconsin-based Epic is one of the nation’s premier providers of electronic health records, serving more than 250 million patients, including those at WVU Medicine. The company’s contribution provides support to the WVU Cancer Institute Mobile Cancer Screening Program and the WVU Medicine Children’s Comfort Fund.

Epic’s support for the WVU Cancer Institute includes funds for Bonnie’s Bus and LUCAS. Bonnie’s Bus is a mobile mammography unit that has provided more than 25,000 mammograms and detected more than 125 cases of breast cancer in West Virginia since 2009. LUCAS is the nation’s first fully mobile lung cancer screening unit, offering low-dose computed tomography scans in 42 West Virginia counties. Since its launch in August 2021, LUCAS has screened 168 people for lung cancer and referred 50 for medical follow-up, including one diagnosed with lung cancer.

“Cancer prevention and control efforts play an important role in addressing West Virginia’s health disparities,”  Hannah Hazard-Jenkins, M.D., director of the WVU Cancer Institute, Jean and Laurence DeLynn Chair of Oncology, and associate professor of surgery at the WVU School of Medicine, said. “These mobile cancer services provide access to critical screenings for West Virginians in our most rural areas. Support from corporate partners like Epic helps us reach more patients and potentially save more lives.”

Epic’s contribution to WVU Medicine Children’s goes to the Compassion, Caring, and Comfort Fund, which provides short-term assistance to offset financial challenges faced by the families of WVU Medicine Children’s patients. Funds are often used for gas cards to cover travel costs between home and the hospital, overnight accommodations for families that do not live close to the hospital, cafeteria or restaurant gift cards, and payment assistance for monthly bills.

“Having a sick or injured child is a struggle for any family, even in the best circumstances,” Amy L. Bush, B.S.N., M.B.A., R.N., C.N.O.R., WVU Medicine Children’s chief operating officer, said. “Epic’s generous contribution will ensure that we can help alleviate pressing financial concerns, so families can focus on their child’s needs when it matters most.” 

Epic’s latest contribution builds on more than 13 years of support for WVU Medicine.

“WVU’s commitment to the accessibility of healthcare is impressive,” Judy Faulkner, CEO of Epic, said. “Both the Mobile Cancer Screening Program and the Comfort Fund make crucial, potentially life-saving care an option for more West Virginians.”

Epic’s contribution was made through the WVU Foundation, the nonprofit organization that receives and administers private donations on behalf of the University.