Generous Gift Supports Education for Bayhealth Cancer Nursing Staff
Staff of the Bayhealth Cancer Institute regularly participate in various education and training opportunities to help ensure they’re providing the best treatments and latest advances in cancer care. Some of these opportunities are made possible through donations from members of the local community. One such donor is Dover philanthropist and retired U.S. Air Force Col. George Chabbott, who recently made a generous gift in honor and memory of his late wife Marilyn to support nursing education in Bayhealth’s cancer program.
“Marilyn was a patient at Bayhealth,” explained Chabbott. “They treated her so well in the six weeks she was there before she lost her battle with cancer. I know quite a few people who work in hospital administration. Someone told me that the nurses need ongoing education and training. This is something I knew I wanted to support, so I made a donation, which is set up to continue over a period of time.”
Bayhealth Medical Oncology Clinical Manager Susan Shaw, MSN, RN, OCN, says those who will be among the first to benefit from Chabbott’s donation are two nurses attending a professional training conference on improving patient-centered communication and cancer care in October. “I appreciate someone who wants to invest in further developing our nursing team,” said Shaw.
Chabbott, who served in the Air Force for 23 years before retiring in 1973, says he has been very impressed with Bayhealth overall in the past decade or so. For example, a couple of days after Marilyn was diagnosed with cancer, she fell in the kitchen very early in the morning. “We knew right away she had a severe break in her arm, so we took her to the ER at Kent,” Chabbott recalled. “They eventually had to fly her to Christiana, but she got great care between the time we arrived at the ER and then.”
He also expressed how wonderful it was for Marilyn to receive quality cancer care close to home. “My daughter is a doctor in Washington and is well acquainted with Johns Hopkins,” Chabbott said. “They figured out what the situation was, but also acknowledged it’s a long ways over there. They told us we could go to Bayhealth instead because they’re affiliated with Penn Medicine.”
“The generous donation by Col. Chabbott is an investment in the professional growth and development of our nurses; we are very grateful for the community support of our cancer program,” said John D. Shevock, FACHE, FACMPE, senior director of operations, Oncology Service Line and executive director of the Bayhealth Cancer Institute.
Visit Bayhealth.org/Cancer to learn more about Bayhealth’s Oncology services. Contact the Bayhealth Foundation at 302-744-7015 to find out how you can make a contribution to the Bayhealth Cancer Institute.
