GenesisCare, one of Australia's largest cancer care service providers, has backed the popular Transport to Treatment program available for Greenhill Lodge guests since September 2020.
In May, GenesisCare committed to further supporting the vital program, offering a new sponsorship of $25,000 a year for the next three years.
The program provides Lodge guests with free transport to and from treatment at a range of cancer treatment centres around metropolitan Adelaide, with hundreds of passengers getting on the Transport to Treatment buses each week.
GenesisCare's Gavrielle Jaksic (left) and Lynn Mills joined Greenhill Lodge guests on a Transport to Treatment trip.
GenesisCare’s Lynn Mills and Gavrielle Jaksic, both of the SA Referrer Engagement team, joined two Lodge guests on a Transport to Treatment trip to Tennyson Centre to see first-hand how their support impacts people facing cancer treatment.
Ms Mills says it “made all the difference” to be able to engage with Lodge guests and directly hear their stories, how the program helps them, and get feedback in real time on how they could better support cancer patients once they made it to their appointments.
“We’ve been sponsoring the bus for quite some time, but actually getting on the bus with the guests, hearing their stories, you understand how important it is to have transport,” she says.
“I think Gavrielle and I have both taken something away that we can share with the clinicians. Little things like the timing of their appointments, getting to Tennyson Centre or wherever they need to go, so something we can take away and share with the rest of the group.
It really gladdens my heart, as it does for all the people at GenesisCare, to see how much of a difference it makes to people.
GenesisCare General Manager - Oncology SA Duy Tran (left) and Cancer Council SA Chief Executive Kerry Rowlands.
Transport to Treatment driver Alan has volunteered in the role for 19 years now. He says the service helps reduce some of the logistical burdens on Greenhill Lodge guests, but also provides connection and conversation.
“It’s not about a length of time. It’s instant. You can take somebody today, you’ve never met them before, and yet there’s a rapport. It’s a win-win. It’s excellent,” he says.
“It’s a service Cancer Council SA is providing to them, inclusive of their stay here at Greenhill Lodge. They love nothing more than a service like that.
“They really appreciate it. I don’t think I’ve ever had a passenger on there that hasn’t appreciated—and verbally said so—the fact that we can take them over to wherever they have to go.”
Transport to Treatment supports an average of 230 passengers a week* with trips to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, St Andrew's Hospital, Tennyson Centre and Flinders Medical Centre. With 39 volunteer drivers sharing duties across three fleet vehicles, the program covers up to 34,000km on the road each year.
Cancer Council SA sincerely thanks GenesisCare, CMV Group, and the dedicated volunteer drivers who make the Transport to Treatment program possible.
Transport to Treatment is one of many wrap-around service options at Greenhill Lodge which support guests facing cancer treatment, including subsidised meals, access to social workers and counselling, transport to shops for groceries, and more.
*This number includes the total number of seats occupied on the buses each week, but does not differentiate between cancer patients, their carers, or those who make multiple trips to treatment in the one week.
