Cancer Resource Center dedicated
Contributed by University Health Care Center

Beth and Dan Hamilton and their children Elizabeth and Thomas in the new Beth Hamilton Family Resource Center at University Hospital

It's not the kind of anniversary that most people would want to commemorate. But this past summer, Dan Hamilton started to think about the upcoming anniversary marking a decade since his wife Beth was diagnosed with colon cancer. He wanted to do something special. Not to commemorate the diagnosis, but the cure. Because Beth Hamilton is a cancer survivor.

Mr. Hamilton, an Augusta attorney and member of the University Health Care Foundation board, began exploring what could be done to give back to the hospital that took care of his family during their time of need.

"He didn't know what to do. He felt the need to give back," said Linda Doyle, RN, clinical coordinator for 10W and 6N/S, who worked with Mr. Hamilton to arrange his gift through the Foundation.

It began in 1997, when Mrs. Hamilton spent her 34th birthday undergoing cancer treatment. The couple, who had two small children were in shock. Elizabeth was a year and a half and Thomas had just turned four. "I came in one morning for a colonoscopy, thinking I would go home that day and then didn't go home until three weeks later," she said.

At the time, the Hamilton's didn't know much about colon cancer. They had a lot of questions. Mr. Hamilton hopes his gift will help make it easier for families to find those answers.

On Feb 14, his wife's birthday, he gathered family and friends to surprise his wife with a gift dedicated to a decade free from cancer. Pam Anderson, RN., University cancer services coordinator, says the Beth Hamilton Family Resource Center, on the 6th floor, will help provide families going through cancer treatment with some comfort and access to educational resources. Mr. Hamilton's gift provides: a special resource center on the sixth floor, two media carts with widescreen TVs and DVD players, family education materials and a resource library, and wireless access to the resource room on the 10th floor

Mr. Hamilton said he looks at the decade since his wife came home from the hospital cancer free as a gift. "Looking back, I can only feel fortunate," he said.