Lariviere Oncology Suite

The residents of the River Valley are fortunate to have the Lariviere Oncology Suite at Rumford Hospital providing out patient services to people in the community living with cancer and blood disorders.

 Dr. Nicholette Erickson began seeing patients in Rumford in the fall of 1997 coming every other week and doing a few treatments in one small room. In 1998 she saw 331 patients for office visits and staff administered 239 treatments in the clinic. The clinic quickly grew needing more space and staff.

 The Oncology suite is named for David Lariviere, son of Al and Freda Lariviere. David had cancer and Al could see the toll that the travel and treatments took on their son. Al believed that there should be treatment available locally and took on a fundraising project as a challenge to increase services in the area.

 Al called on friends and members of the community, soliciting funds in memory of his son David. His fundraising enabled Dr Erickson and her patients to move into a larger treatment room with three chairs and coming weekly rather that every other week. In 2004 the clinic moved into a bright sunny unit equipped with 6 patient care units. In 2008 Dr Erickson had 847 patient visits and 2,269 treatments were done in the suite.

 Patients are treated in the Lariviere Oncology Suite located on the 2nd floor. The clinic is staffed by Patty Perry, RN; Tamara Breton, RN OCN; Stephany Jacques, RN; Marie Charleston, RN and Joanne Lapointe receptionist. All nurses are certified in chemotherapy and biotherapy administration. The clinic treats patients five days a week. Patients can receive chemotherapy , injections and blood transfusions. The services of the clinic have been expanded to administer intravenous treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, crohn’s disease, dehydration, anemia as well as intravenous antibiotics. This practice is limited to adult patients.

 The clinic is also staffed by a social worker, Emily Ecker OSW. Emily is available two days a week for oncology patients. Emily was hired through The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing and has been coming to the clinic two days a week. Emily provides services to patients and families including counseling, support groups, workshops and case management services. Since 2008 she has seen over 250 people. Some of her programs have been; Rx for Caregivers, a Nutritional cooking series-Food for Life, our first annual Pamper Yourself/Spa day event, Managing Cancer related pain and an art therapy class. Future programs will include a Spring Pamper Yourself day, Vision journaling and Beaded Jewelry.

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