Hope Lodge Will Server Traveling Cancer Patients

Most people come to Utah for business or pleasure but some travel here for medical treatments. Utah offers several wonderful facilities that attract patients from around the region.

In Salt Lake City, Primary Children's Medical Center serves child patients from Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Montana and other areas. Children and their families coming here for treatment often stay in the Ronald McDonald House.

Veterans coming for medical care can stay in the Fisher House.

In the future, people coming for cancer treatments will be able to stay in Hope Lodge, which is being funded by donations and is expected to open in 2015.

The Huntsman Cancer Institute, University Hospital and other facilities are engaged in cutting-edge research and provide some of the most advanced treatments available anywhere. The lodge is greatly needed to offset expenses incurred by cancer patients.

The American Cancer Society has this information about Hope Lodge. That site can also accept online donations.

The Salt Lake Tribune has this article about the lodge. Below are excerpts.

She (Lodge Chairman Katie Eccles) said of the 16,000 patients who seek cancer care in Utah, 4,500 will have left their home to do it, whether they are from rural Utah, Idaho, Wyoming or elsewhere.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints kicked off Utah’s capital campaign last year, donating two acres at 100 South and 400 East, valued at $4.2 million. And the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation gave $2 million, Katie Eccles said.

Other major donors include Intermountain Healthcare and Sorenson Legacy Foundation, which gave $750,000 each, and University Health Care, which contributed $400,000.

Patients of any of the valley’s cancer treatment centers will be able to stay at the lodge at 375 East 100 South for free, along with their caregivers, with a physician referral. Each suite will have two beds. The average stay at other lodges is 21 days.