Rumford Hospital oncology lead nurse Lisa Hodgkins, standing left, oncology nurse Marie Charleston, sitting, and Kathy Gallant show off the new digital scales.

Hospital suite gets scales

RUMFORD – When Kathy Gallant’s father was ill, he was treated in the Rumford Hospital oncology suite and had to be weighed at each visit.

A few years later, when she and her husband, Lee, were ready to make a gift to the oncology suite in her father’s memory, Gallant remembered that he had a difficult time standing on the scales. “I knew they made scales that you could sit on,” she said.

Gallant got together with Lisa Hodgkins, RN, oncology nurse coordinator, and they found a modern digital scale that could be used standing or sitting, with safety features like handrails and a slip-resistant foot pad. The Gallants donated the cost of the scales.

But Gallant is determined to give back to the oncology suite in ways other than cash. Even though she works full time, she gives about four hours each week to the suite, getting food for patients, sorting items for the nurses or filing.