EEFCC Welcomes Much Needed Guesthouse (continued)

Wendy EvansWilson didn't meet inpatient criteria even though her treatments were scheduled for several consecutive days. So instead of staying in Columbia for her 10-minute radiation treatments, she made the five-hour round trip between Milan and Columbia four days a week. She estimates she racked up 6,000 miles on her car and spent $50 a day on food and gas over the course of her treatments.

As a testament to the difference a guest house will make to others, Wilson says the one night a week she stayed in Columbia with longtime friend Wendy Evans, interim hospital director at Ellis Fischel, helped lift her spirits and the strain on her pocketbook.

Evans says lodging in private homes was more of an option for cancer patients in the past. "In an era when people were more trusting, patients and their families were welcomed into neighborhood homes. Residents on Garth Avenue used to subsidize their retirement income by renting out rooms in their homes."

But that doesn't mean people today haven't opened their arms in other ways, Evans assures. In addition to Wyatt's gift, the guest house is being funded in large part by Columbia community members, area businesses, volunteers, hospital employees and physicians as well as citizens throughout the state. Though some $1.8 million has been raised for construction, the guest house fund-raising campaign will be ongoing.



University of Missouri - Columbia University of Missouri System