As the healthcare landscape continues to change and the role of oncology financial advocates evolves, ACCC’s Financial Advocacy Network is collaborating with its partners to update the Financial Advocacy Services Guidelines using a consensus-based process.
Meredith Doherty, PhD, LCSW, conducts mixed-method, community-engaged research to understand the relationship between economic security and health. She examines the process through which medical financial hardship accelerates existing racial and ethnic health disparities. As a faculty member of the School of Policy and Practice Center for Guaranteed Income Research, Dr. Doherty teaches courses in health policy and social work/nonprofit leadership. She is also the lead investigator of the Guaranteed Income and Financial Treatment Trial, which focuses on alleviating financial hardship in families facing cancer.
Dr. Doherty draws upon her clinical experience as a palliative care social worker in safety-net community hospitals to develop, implement, and evaluate healthcare-based social needs interventions that target downstream social determinants of health in medically underserved populations. As an implementation scientist, she seeks to understand the role of community and organizational leaders in the delivery of evidence-based strategies to promote healthcare access and reduce disparities. Dr. Doherty received her Master of Social Work from the Silver School of Social Work at New York University and Doctor of Philosophy in social welfare from the City University of New York, and she was co-chief research fellow in psycho-oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Sharon Gentry, MSN, RN, HON-ONN-CG, AOCN, CBCN, is the program director, Academy of Oncology Nurse and Patient Navigators (AONN+) at The Lynx Group in Cranbury, N.J. She serves as a leader for the AONN+ organization, guiding and directing the organization based on agreed-upon strategic plans, goals, and objectives that the organization—with administrative support from The Lynx Group—intends to achieve in the short term and long-term. Gentry oversees the AONN+ Leadership Council and local navigation networks.
She travels nationally, lecturing on the navigation concept in healthcare, and has published numerous articles and chapters on the subject. Gentry is on the editorial board for the Journal of Oncology Navigation & Survivorship, CONQUER: the patient voice, and The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA.
On the local level, Gentry is a Trellis Supportive Care Board Member and participates in its Professional Advisory Committee, and she is an active member of the North Carolina Piedmont Triad Local Navigation Network and Piedmont Triad Oncology Nursing Society. She obtained her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in nursing from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill and UNC Greensboro, respectively.
Rebecca Kirch, JD, provides strategic focus and leadership in bringing the millions of patient and family voices NPAF and PAF represent to the forefront of national healthcare quality improvement efforts.
She previously worked 15 years at the American Cancer Society and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. As the Society’s first director of quality of life and survivorship, she orchestrated the development of its national agenda addressing pain, symptoms, and distress experienced by patients, survivors, and caregivers. She created collaborative initiatives in research, programs, and advocacy for integrated palliative, psychosocial, and rehabilitation services, as well as enhanced clinical communication skills.
Rebecca also played a leading role in planning and executing the Institute of Medicine 2015 joint workshop “Comprehensive Cancer Care for Children and Families” and the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s Quality Care for People with Serious Illness Roundtable 2017 workshop on “Integrating Patient and Family Voices in Serious Illness Care.” She also serves as Quality of Life and Person-Centered Care’s Task Force co-chair for the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and a board member for children’s oncology care camps.
Jeffrey Kendall, PsyD, LP, is the Director of Oncology Supportive Care at M Health Fairview in Minneapolis, MN. He joined the University of Minnesota Cancer Care program in 2016 where he is dedicated to addressing the impact of cancer on individuals and families. Currently his professional time is divided among direct patient care, program administration, program development, and research collaboration.
Dr. Kendall speaks nationally and internationally and has published 40 journal articles and abstracts on topics related to psychosocial oncology and cancer survivorship. Dr. Kendall serves on committees for the American Psychosocial Oncology Society and the Association of Community Cancer Centers.
Dr. Kendall received his Doctorate from Indiana State University and completed his Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Psychosocial Oncology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York.
Angie Santiago, BBA, CRCS, FACCC, is a senior business manager for medical oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at the Thomas Jefferson University Health System. She created and implemented the Oncology Patient Assistance Program, which the health system uses to help patients acquire supplemental financial coverage that exceeds what the hospital’s business office has traditionally provided.
Santiago has worked in healthcare for more than two decades within patient access, revenue cycle, and financial counseling. She is a graduate of the Association of Cancer Care Centers Financial Advocacy Network boot camp and currently services as chair for the network’s Advisory Committee. Santiago has also presented on financial toxicity and related topics at patient navigators’ networking meetings.
Wendi Waugh, BS, RT(R)(T), CMD, ODS, FACCC, is the administrative director of cancer services and ambulatory infusion at Southern Ohio Medical Center in Portsmouth, Ohio. She brings more than 30 years of experience in healthcare to this role. Waugh began her career in medical imaging but has spent the last 28 years in oncology. Her passion for community health and development led her to assume a larger leadership role at Southern Ohio Medical Center in 2013, when she assumed leadership of the community health and wellness teams.
A survivor of breast cancer, Waugh’s interests include community development, public speaking, leadership, dance, fitness, hiking and biking, and spending time with her family. She is a graduate of the Radiologic Technology Program at Shawnee State University and received her training for radiation therapy at Weber State University. Waugh received a Bachelor of Science in health administration and health informatics from Kennedy-Western Reserve, and she is also a certified cancer registrar and certified medical dosimetrist.