Melanie Zisa, RN, BSN, OCN (left) and Elizabeth (Liz) Concepcion (right) stand together as Liz is the first patient to ring the new “Bell of Hope” at the ceremony on May 16.
For cancer patients, the ringing of the bell has long signified healing, hope, and a symbolic end to the most difficult era of their cancer journey. Although it has been typically reserved for patients completing their chemotherapy or radiation treatment, Penn Medicine has set out to make the bell-ringing ceremony more inclusive of patients who have ongoing, sometimes lifelong care, so they are not excluded from the opportunity to celebrate milestones in their treatment.
In the same hallway as the tree mural is the HOPE mural, also by artist and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center employee Paula Breslin-Perry.
The team at Penn Medicine Cherry Hill (PMCH), an outpatient center providing primary and specialty medical care in New Jersey, has led the charge in transforming the bell-ringing ceremony to include all cancer patients and to celebrate a variety of their milestones: a good scan, a good lab result, or even a good day.
On May 16, Melanie Zisa, RN, BSN, OCN, infusion nurse supervisor at PMCH, led a special ribbon-cutting ceremony to reveal the “Bell of Hope,” which also includes a new bell location and wall mural by Paula Breslin-Perry, a senior improvement quality advisor at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center who is also an artist.
The addition of the mural provided PMCH an opportunity to relocate the bell to a hallway adjacent to the oncology and non-oncology infusion bay area. The dedicated, thoughtful location is still within the infusion suite, but in a place removed far enough that the ceremony would not disturb other patients. The new location also allows for family and friends to be present for the ceremony.
The Janine Hee Foundation donated a plaque to be displayed with the new bell location. The plaque includes a quote from the late Janine Hee who was a patient at Penn Medicine Cherry Hill.
Zisa asked a five-year cancer survivor of small cell lung cancer, Elizabeth (Liz) Concepcion, to be the first bell ringer at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Since her diagnosis in 2018, Concepcion has been on maintenance treatment for her cancer. As a patient who will never officially see the end of treatment due to her maintenance immunotherapy, she was one of the main inspirations for the reimagined “Bell of Hope” ceremony.
Additionally, the Janine Hee Foundation donated a plaque to be displayed with the new bell location. Hee, who was treated at an infusion site in Sewell, NJ for colon cancer before passing away, was close to the hearts of the PMCH staff. Her family created the foundation in her name and has been a supporter of Penn Medicine’s three New Jersey infusion suites. The plaque bears the inspirational words of Hee, "Don't wait until you reach your goal to be proud of yourself. Be proud every step you take.”