Swim Across America Nantucket’s event in August raised nearly a quarter million dollars for cancer care on Nantucket. On Thursday, December 4, the Nantucket swim Co-Event Directors Jim Pignato and Jill Roethke presented the checks to NCH President & CEO Dr. Margot Hartmann, and Palliative & Supportive Care of Nantucket (PASCON) program director Charlene Thurston.

Swim Across America Nantucket, now preparing for its fourth year on the island, is a fun and active family event at Jetties Beach that benefits the Mass General Hematology/Oncology Service at Nantucket Cottage Hospital, as well as PASCON‘s programs and services.

These funds sustain the hospital’s longstanding chemotherapy service, and allow NCH to provide Nantucket cancer patients with access to one of the finest cancer treatment programs in the country without having to leave their home, reducing the number of trips they must make off-island for care. For example:

• Since the inception of the Mass General Hematology/Oncology Service at NCH, the world-class oncologists and nurse practitioners who visit Nantucket from MGH have provided more than 400 patient visits on the island.
• The year-to-date number of chemotherapy treatments provided at NCH has increased 61 percent in 2014.
• Since last October, NCH has provided cancer care for 60 island patients.