MedWest-Haywood’s Nurse Navigator calendar fundraiser gives testimonial platform for breast care patients

1/17/2013

MedWest-Haywood’s Nurse Navigator calendar fundraiser gives testimonial platform for breast care patients

Clyde, N.C. – MedWest-Haywood is offering an 18-month 2013/2014 calendar for $10.00 to the community as a fundraiser for the hospital’s Nurse Navigator program, a service that guides breast cancer patients through their entire course of treatment at MedWest-Haywood. 

The calendar, which features beautiful local landscape photos taken by MedWest-Haywood’s pharmacy director Jackie Evans, gives a voice to patients whose lives have been impacted by the Nurse Navigator program. The calendar months feature the photos and testimonies of Haywood county women who were brave and generous enough to share their stories with the community. 


The Nurse Navigator program was begun at MedWest in 2009 as a service to help women navigate appointments and treatments, answer important questions, and have personal contact with a clinically-skilled person at any time. Since its inception, the program has successfully guided over 1,500 women through their course of treatment, including those who have had both negative and positive biopsies, and serves as an invaluable resource during a trying and difficult time. 

Johanna Dewees, BSN, is the Nurse Navigator for MedWest-Haywood, and has personally cared for more than half of the women who have come through the program since it began. Dewees forms friendships with her patients while they are under her care, a charge she doesn't take lightly. 

“I meet women and their families during a time of crisis,” said Dewees. “My 35 years of experience as a nurse help me form a bond with the patients quickly, so that they have someone on the journey with them.” 

Calendars are available for purchase at the following locations: the MedWest Health and Fitness Center, the MedWest-Haywood hospital gift shop, the women’s imaging center inside the Outpatient Care Center at MedWest-Haywood, MedWest Urgent Care – West in Waynesville, MedWest Urgent Care – Canton, Hazelwood Soap Company on Hazelwood Avenue in Waynesville, Pink Regalia on Jones Cove Road in Clyde, and Maggie Valley First United Methodist Church, or by calling (828) 452-8100.