CANCER CARE PARTNERSHIP is a partnership between Mount Nittany Health and Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center located in the Lance and Ellen Shaner Cancer Pavilion at Mount Nittany Medical Center.
Within CANCER CARE PARTNERSHIP is a team of healthcare professionals including oncologists and hematologists, pathologists, radiologists, oncology nurses and therapists, oncology patient navigators, and clinical dieticians, all working together to provide the highest quality of care to our patients.
One such physician, Aderonke Ajala, MD, CANCER CARE PARTNERSHIP, Mount Nittany Health, is board-certified in hematology, medical oncology, and internal medicine.
Eighty-two-year-old Leonard Groden, a patient of Dr. Ajala’s, has been living with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) for nearly 10 years. Happy to have surpassed his projected life expectancy, Leonard credits this achievement to the care he’s received from CANCER CARE PARTNERSHIP.
“The doctors and staff are all fine people, and the place is as neat as a pin,” said Leonard. “If you need cancer care, this is where you need to go!”
During any conversation with Leonard, you’ll find him energetic and enthusiastic about life. An early-riser, Leonard is up before the sun, splitting and hauling wood, welding, painting farm tractors, and working.
As part of Leonard’s treatment, he receives intravenous immunoglobulin therapy (IVIG) each month throughout the height of cold and flu season. In addition to the safety precautions Leonard and his wife adhere to, he attributes his health to IVIG therapy.
Other individuals who benefit from IVIG therapy include those who are immunodeficient, have autoimmune or inflammatory conditions, infections, and infection-related disorders.
Living just outside of Bedford, Pa, Leonard chooses to travel over an hour to be treated at CANCER CARE PARTNERSHIP. Having been treated at other large healthcare systems in the past, Leonard prefers the quality and convenience of being treated at Mount Nittany Medical Center, referring to CANCER CARE PARTNERSHIP as the “Taj Mahal of Cancer Centers.”
“Patients with a condition like Leonard’s can suffer from recurrent bacterial infections, but these infections can be prevented by regular IVIG therapy, which is effective and efficient. It means a great deal to me to help patients like Leonard lead a fulfilling, normal life,” said Dr. Ajala.
To learn more about CANCER CARE PARTNERSHIP, Mount Nittany Health’s state-of-the-art cancer treatments and services, and cancer support, visit mountnittany.org/services/cancer-care.