Wellstar Cancer Care

While Wellstar’s expert cancer specialists are well-equipped to help their patients fight cancer, they’re also dedicated to stopping cancer before it starts.  

Part of preventing cancer is knowing your risk and taking action early. Wellstar’s Genetic Risk Assessment Program helps patients determine whether they may be at higher risk for some cancers.  

At Wellstar, our focus is PeopleCare: personalized healthcare tailored just for you. For cancer care, that means taking a close look at what makes you unique — your distinct genetic makeup that sets you apart. Genetic counselors use a compassionate approach to guide patients and their families so they can make informed healthcare decisions. 

“We are the busiest genetic counseling program in Georgia,” said Dr. Michael Andrews, Wellstar’s chief cancer officer. “Cancer care now is very genetically-based, and the specialists in our program can look for certain abnormalities and adapt treatments based on what they find.” 

Halting Hereditary Cancers

Genetic mutations play a major role in about 5 to 10% of cancers. A patient with a family history of cancer who learns they have specific genetic mutations can partner with their provider to be more proactive, whether that involves screening, lifestyle changes or medical treatments. Taking a few proactive steps could prevent cancer, even if the patient’s genetics may put them at a higher risk.  

Genetic testing can also benefit cancer patients and empower their whole families with important information. If a cancer patient learns they carry a mutation, it can help relatives decide if they could benefit from genetic testing. Also, people who have certain cancers and also have specific DNA sequences may benefit from targeted therapies. 

Some possible signs of hereditary cancer include: 

• Unusually early age of cancer onset
• Multiple primary cancers in a single patient
• Cancer in paired organs (such as in cancer in both breasts)
• Multi-generational cancers
• Rare tumors
• An unusual presentation, such as male breast cancer
• Belonging to an ethnic group known to be at high risk for hereditary cancers
• No environmental explanation for the cancer

Some gene mutations can increase your cancer risk, so if your provider finds that you are affected, they may recommend increased screenings and other precautions to monitor your health. 

• TP53: This gene produces a protein that slows down tumor growth. Mutations in this gene can cause Li-Fraumeni syndrome, which puts patients at an increased risk for developing some cancers. 
• BRCA1 and BRCA2: Mutations in these genes increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer, as well as pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer and male breast cancer.
• PTEN: This gene also stops tumor growth. Mutations in this gene are associated with Cowden syndrome, a disorder that increases the risk of breast, thyroid, endometrial and other forms of cancer. 

Take charge of your health — and maybe help out a family member, too — by learning more about how your genetics could affect your cancer risk. Call (470) 793-7472 to book an appointment with a Wellstar genetic counselor. Both in-person and virtual visits are available. Learn more at wellstar.org/cancercare.

To say Cindy Mejia is “busy” is an understatement. 

She’s constantly crunching numbers as an accounting manager for a large research institute, trying out new recipes in her kitchen at her Roswell home, or trying to keep up with her little granddaughter (who just discovered how much fun it is to run).

But one Wednesday in September, Cindy woke up and reached for her computer, trying to get an early start to her workday. She felt a little groggy and couldn’t remember her password but didn’t immediately realize something was wrong.

Then she stood up. Her right arm and leg weren’t functioning, and that’s when Cindy knew what was happening — she was having a stroke.

“The first thing I thought was, ‘I need to get to Wellstar North Fulton right away,’” Cindy said. “I knew the hospital was nearby and has a good reputation.”

That decision ultimately saved her brain and life.

For Cindy, the critical care she needed was close to home, too — she lives four miles from Wellstar North Fulton Hospital. There, her care team sprang into action, bringing her the treatment and peace of mind in a moment of crisis.

“From then on, I felt well taken care of,” Cindy said. “I was relieved, and I knew I was going to be OK.”

Cindy's close-to-home 'pit crew'

When a patient has a stroke, every second matters. Each minute that ticks by could be the difference between a permanent stroke and a return to routine. So at North Fulton, Cindy’s care team assembled quickly to save her brainpower.

“We’re like the pit crew on a NASCAR team,” said Dr. Ed Malcom, a Wellstar emergency medicine physician. “We have our emergency stroke care response down to a science. Everyone knows their role and works together to act quickly.”

Cindy was one of the first patients at North Fulton to benefit from the hospital’s newest addition to its stroke program. While North Fulton has been a primary stroke center for years, the introduction of thrombectomies at the hospital gives patients a close-to-home, life-saving option for stroke care — saving them both time and brainpower.

A thrombectomy is a minimally invasive procedure used to unclog an artery, restoring blood flow to the brain and preventing further damage. It does not involve cutting of the brain but instead starts with the insertion of a catheter through the patient’s groin.

“Recently, we’ve developed our own capability right here in the North Fulton area to pull the clot out of the brain. That’s a giant leap forward,” Dr. Malcom explained. “It's good for the whole state because there's only a handful of hospitals that do that, and it's good for the residents that live in that North Fulton area to have a hospital so close. They don't have to take a helicopter ride somewhere to get that procedure done. It saves time.”

For Cindy, having that procedure just a few miles from her home, right when she needed it, helped save her brain function.

“If Cindy would have gone to a different hospital that didn't provide this care, then it would have been a long time before she was able to have blood flow restored to the brain,” Wellstar Neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Zussman said, explaining how critical each section was when it came to Cindy’s care. “The delay could have been 30 minutes or even an hour, and it's possible that she would have had permanent stroke, permanent damage to her brain instead of making the recovery she did.”

Offering thrombectomies at North Fulton has brought long-needed stroke services to the area north of Atlanta, so patients like Cindy don’t have to travel into the city through busy traffic to get the treatment they need.

“In a city like Chicago or New York, there are almost eight or nine stroke centers that provide thrombectomy in a city,” said Dr. Rishi Gupta, director of the stroke and neurocritical care program at Wellstar. “Here in metro Atlanta, we have only had three for a long, long time. So, being able to provide care for patients in the northeast corner of our city is crucial because almost 2 million people live in that quadrant.”

Proximity to care is especially important for critical situations like strokes, Dr. Gupta said.

“Any disease that is time-sensitive where patients need to get to the hospital quickly, get treated quickly — the geography is everything, particularly in bad weather when helicopters cannot fly,” he said, explaining how logistics can impact life-saving stroke care. “We need to be able to provide services in the communities the patients reside and the North Fulton program is uniquely positioned to do that.”

Signs of a stroke can include a loss of balance, dizziness, blurry vision or sudden vision loss, drooping in the face, arm or leg weakness, and difficulty speaking. Patients who experience any of those symptoms should call 911 and seek medical care right away. 

Cindy said she is glad she got to the hospital as soon as she could — “I am so thankful that I took quick action and that I had Wellstar so close.” At North Fulton, she not only received the highest level of stroke care. Wellstar takes a multidisciplinary approach to stroke care, including specialists such as critical care specialists, neurologists, neurointerventionalists and physical therapists on the care team. 

“When you're feeling pretty healthy, you don't think a stroke can happen to you. It happens so quickly. You don't necessarily get a warning,” Cindy said, sharing the importance of listening to your body’s signals when it comes to health. “You can feel one way one day or one minute, and the next minute, it changes.”

Responding to vital needs among vulnerable communities during the pandemic, Wellstar is the first Georgia-based health system to become a national partner in new initiative

Wellstar Health System has joined Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM)’s National COVID-19 Resiliency Network (NCRN) of partners to further inform community-driven response, recovery, and resiliency strategies for addressing the impact of COVID-19 on communities.

In response to the needs of at-risk communities across the health system’s service areas, Wellstar has partnered with the MSM-NCRN and its 40 network partners across the U.S. to collaborate on offering COVID-19-related services to disproportionately impacted communities. As a not-for-profit system dedicated to providing “More than Healthcare. PeopleCare.” Wellstar is committed to addressing inequities that impact the health and well-being of people and communities through more than 450 community partnerships, Wellstar Community Health initiatives, and activities led by the Wellstar Center for Health Equity (WCHE).

One of the most critical barriers to health during the pandemic has been consumer access to reliable, science-based, culturally appropriate, and native language information resources, which the partnership will facilitate. Wellstar is the first Georgia-based health system to become a national partner in this important, new initiative.

“Wellstar is pleased to partner with Morehouse School of Medicine to provide vital information and resources for at-risk communities,” said Candice L. Saunders, president and CEO, Wellstar Health System. “The NCRN is a strong complement to the important work that our Wellstar Center for Health Equity is doing, and we are thankful for the collaboration.”

Morehouse School of Medicine’s National COVID-19 Resiliency Network Builds Community Resiliency

The MSM-NCRN coordinates a strategic and structured national network of national, state/territorial/tribal and local public and community-based organizations that, together, will work to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on racial and ethnic minority and rural populations. The network helps to provide awareness of culturally appropriate health education information and linkage to care, helping organizations and families recover from pandemic difficulties. In addition to educational and informational resources in at least 10 languages to accommodate cultural competency, initiatives will include COVID-19 testing, vaccinations following phases directed by DPH, training opportunities for community leaders.

“Our national network connects individuals, families, community organizations and clinical providers to timely and relevant COVID-19 information and services in their neighborhood,” says Dominic Mack, MD, MBA, professor of family medicine and director of the National COVID-19 Resiliency Network in the National Center for Primary Care at MSM.

“Morehouse School of Medicine’s National COVID-19 Resiliency Network is designed to not only provide structure to the resources that are on the ground-level fighting this pandemic but is an important resource for our partners in serving the underserved and getting people the healthcare they need,” said Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD., MSM president and dean. “Organizations such as Wellstar here in Georgia, its Wellstar Center for Health Equity, and the partnerships we cultivate, are critically important to the mission of health equity and in fighting and defeating COVID-19.”

Wellstar Center for Health Equity Addresses Health Inequities across Georgia

The WCHE addresses health inequities across Georgia to enhance the health and well-being of the people and communities served by Wellstar. Through partnerships such as the one with MSM-NCRN, the WCHE implements multi-disciplinary approaches to address deeply entrenched social disparities and healthcare gaps. Programs led by the WCHE over the past year include walk-up, pop-up COVID-19 family testing; distribution of masks and safety kits to at-risk communities; Congregational Health Network communications, collaboration, information, and support; Spanish-language educational information for Latinx communities; a technology-driven Community Transformation initiative for local non-profits; joint Webinars on health equity topics in collaboration with Partnership for Southern Equity, Atlanta Regional Collaborative for Health Improvement (ARCHI), and Georgia Health Policy Center; and a series of “Mobile Market” free farmer’s market-style grocery shopping experiences for hundreds of families with Goodr.

The partnership between Wellstar and MSM-NCRN will extend the organizations’ reach and resources to enhance information access and drive positive impact.

The NCRN launch follows a $40 million award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health to coordinate a strategic network focused on delivering COVID-19-related information to communities hardest hit by the pandemic. The launch of the NCRN occurs alongside the release of new digital technology accessible through the NCRN website. It provides location-based recommendations on where community members can get a COVID-19 test or receive a COVID-19 vaccine when distribution increases in the coming months.

Learn more about our COVID-19 vaccine updates. To access MSM-NCRN COVID-19 resources, visit www.msm.edu/ncrn. 

ABOUT MOREHOUSE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Founded in 1975, Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) is among the nation’s leading educators of primary care physicians, biomedical scientists, and public health professionals. An independent and private historically-Black medical school, MSM was recognized by the Annals of Internal Medicine as the nation’s number one medical school in fulfilling a social mission—the creation and advancement of health equity. MSM faculty and alumni are noted for excellence in teaching, research, and public policy, as well as exceptional patient care. MSM is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award doctoral and master’s degrees. To learn more about programs and donate today, please visit www.msm.edu or call (404) 752-1500.