"The Community Care program helped save my life"

Keith Sims had already battled a drug problem, incarceration, and breast cancer and was on the road to recovery when in January 2009 he started losing weight and began having difficulty breathing.

“I was running out of breath just coming up the stairs,” Sims recalled. “So I went to see my oncologist at Wheaton Franciscan.” A CAT scan revealed that Sims’ cancer had returned and had spread to his lungs.

“Because of the trouble I had gotten into because of my drug problem I lost my disability insurance, and I had to start chemo right away,” Sims said. Sims’ physician referred him to Dana Brown, a financial counselor with Wheaton Franciscan, who suggested Sims may qualify for the hospital’s Community Care program.

“From that day on everything has been outstanding,” a grateful Sims said. “Everything that needed to be taken care of was taken care of. The Community Care program helped save my life. St. Joe’s is a class act all the way through.”

Sims has responded well to his treatment and his prognosis has improved, he said. “I was out shooting baskets with a buddy of mine today.”