Monroe, Ga. (December 30, 2019) – Piedmont Walton Hospital now offers a free monthly support group meeting for adults in the Walton County community who have been affected by cancer.
The support group, intended to serve as a way to uplift and provide supportive resources for past or present cancer patients as well as their caregivers or loved ones, will meet the second Thursday of every month in Piedmont Walton’s main classroom.
“We’re so happy to be able to begin offering this important support service close to home for the people in our community,” said Kathy Timm, an employee at Piedmont Walton who is a cancer survivor and has led the coordination of the group’s launch. “We hope these meetings serve as a safe place for people affected by cancer to come and discuss the obstacles their dealing with.”
Meetings will include guidance from clinical staff, including nursing leaders and care management or social workers, who can help guide group discussions and provide input, feedback and also help group attendees tackle the issues they’re facing.
“The support group staff that will be there to help all have been touched by cancer in some way,” said Susie Payne, RN, director of care management at Piedmont Walton. “These issues hit close to home for those of us that have been involved in the start of this new support service, and we are passionate about ensuring that people in our community find the support that they need.” Payne will serve as one of the facilitators for the support group meetings.
According to Timm, this free support service has been a vision for her and other members of the support group team like Payne for years. Timm’s passion is driven by her own fight with cancer, which took place more than five years ago.
“When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I quickly learned that there aren’t a lot of places to turn to for support in the Walton County area,” Timm said. “I turned to online support, but there needs to be more than that for the people in our community.”
These new meetings are now possible thanks to the backing of the Piedmont Walton leadership team, as well as other facilities in the Piedmont Healthcare system like the Loran Smith Center for Cancer Support in Athens, which provides free cancer support services to the Athens-area community under the funding of the Piedmont Athens Regional Foundation.
Piedmont Walton’s cancer support group meetings will last an hour and the first meeting will take place on Thursday, January 9. There will be two available meeting times for those interested – 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. – and refreshments will be served to those attending.
For more information about Piedmont Walton’s new cancer support group, call 770-266-1122.