Cancer patients get a home away from home here

Jun. 20—Banner Health Foundation and Scottsdale-based homebuilder Taylor Morrison introduced the first set of community homes in Gilbert for cancer patients undergoing treatment or recovering from surgery — relieving them of financial burdens from hotel stays.

Walking distance from Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Home Away from Home community provides housing assistance for patients, families and caregivers who travel for treatment.

"Patients from more than 50 miles away — who are undergoing treatment recovering from surgery, or participating in clinical trials, along with their care partners or their loved ones — will enjoy the comforts of home in a safe, clean environment right next to the cancer center," said Andy Petersen, president and CEO of Banner Health Foundation.

The first eight homes in the Home Away from Home community will provide lodging for approximately 80 patients yearly.

Each home is approximately 1,000 square feet and fully furnished with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a laundry room, a gathering room and private backyard.

Sheryl Palmer, Taylor Morrison chairwoman and CEO, said the private spaces are "hugely important" for cancer patients' recovery.

"As a homebuilder, there's obviously no greater gift that we can give than building a community of real homes," Palmer said.

"A place for patients to have needed access to the cancer facility, to the local community, and eliminate just some of the undue stressors that go along with hotel room and the cost of that and not having to worry about any of that."

Two weeks ago, Banner MD Anderson moved the first two patients into the community.

Cecilia Cortes moved into her temporary home with her daughter Gissel Qurioz as her caretaker.

Cortes was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia last October, and her daughter was her bone marrow donor.

"I was still in nursing school when I found out, and I wanted to quit the program because I wanted to go with my mom because what if I lose her?" Qurioz said. "What if I don't see her again?"

Her mother is in the post-surgical monitoring stage, which requires her and her caregiver to be living within 30 miles of Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Depending on treatment, a patient's long-term stay is often four to six weeks.

Cortes and Qurioz will live in their temporary home for the next month and a half.

Cortes said she's in remission and feels "more at ease" now that she can focus on her healing comfortably and doesn't have to worry about transportation.

From Cortes' Coolidge home, Qurioz said, transportation was "very difficult" for her mother and family as they endured over 80 miles to and from the cancer center.

Qurioz lives in San Jose, California, and came home when her mom was diagnosed.

"They have no one to take care of my brothers so I had to stay home," she said. "They would have to try to call transportation so they can bring her all the way over here to MD Anderson but sometimes transportation wouldn't want to come and get her because it's too far."

Travel and lodging costs often become financial burdens for many cancer patients who don't live near a treatment center and need consistent treatment, said Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center CEO Michael Herring.

"As we grew our reach — we've had patients in Yuma and we've had over 300 patients from outside the U.S, and some of these patients require daily treatment for anywhere from a few days to a month," Herring explained.

The Home Away from Home program was initially set up for stem-cell transplant patients as they're required to be within 30 minutes of the facility for 30 days or more.

The program has since expanded to assist eligible patients across a range of cancer types who need to be near the cancer center, including those undergoing daily radiation therapy, intense chemotherapy, or are participants in clinical trials.

Patients who didn't live near the cancer center had to spend an average of $5,500 in hotel stays — even with discounted hotel rates secured by Banner MD Anderson.

"Housing is an expense not covered by insurance," Petersen said. "And a hotel stay for many for months on end is simply not an option — even with the negotiated low rates that we have secured in the area."

A patient who cannot afford to live closer would not qualify for the procedure.

Financial burdens due to travel and temporary lodging also can negatively impact a patient's healing outcome, according to a 2021 study published in the American Journal of Managed Care.

"For many patients, having an affordable place to stay for weeks on end is the difference between receiving treatment and not receiving treatment," it said.

Herring said Taylor Morrison and the foundation came together to "put the needs of their community in the middle of the table" and develop the Home Away from Home community to address this critical problem.

Banner MD Anderson's patient application process asks incoming patients where they live and if they need housing resources.

The center offers eligible patients to apply for temporary housing through the Home Away from Home community.

As the Home Away from Home community opening rolls out, Palmer said there is "potentially more land" next to Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center to expand the number of homes.

"I think communities like this around the country would be a wonderful thing because this disease affects families everywhere," she said.