nancyjohnson

Over the course of Nancy's career, her professional and personal focus has been on improving access to cancer care for the communities where she lives and works. This journey began over twenty five years ago and continues today.

In South Florida, while employed as the cancer program manager for Holmes Regional Medical Center, she worked with the Brevard American Cancer Society to develop the Sister's Alive Program for women of color. Through the Sister's Alive Program, sponsored by Holmes Regional (now Health First), over the course of seven years, the breast cancer survival rates improved for women of color.

When she moved to Palm Beach County (1994), Nancy became involved in the South Florida Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen For the Cure Foundation. As President, she developed a grant disbursement program and set up criteria for free mammograms throughout Palm Beach County. Over the course of five years, the number of women being detected at advanced stages of breast cancer decreased. Nancy also completed a community needs assessment for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. This assessment helped the organization to determine the strategic direction for future breast cancer education and early detection programs. Professionally, she served as the director of cancer care services, both inpatient and outpatient at Bethesda Healthcare Systems in Boynton Beach, FL. During the six years she worked at Bethesda, Nancy brought their program up from the 90th percentile to the 25th percentile on the DCRS (no called Solucient) benchmarking report for operational effectiveness for radiation oncology departments. She worked closely with her physician champions to select and aggressively implement new technologies appropriate for a community based cancer program. This resulted in a market share increase of 10% to 13% of all newly diagnosed patients in Palm Beach County.

Recruited in May of 2000 by Columbus Regional Healthcare Systems, Inc., Nancy joined the Columbus, Georgia, community to further develop their cancer program and spearhead a 20 million dollar freestanding cancer center project, the John B. Amos Cancer Center named after one of the AFLAC founders. During her five plus years in Columbus, Nancy worked diligently with many community stakeholders to establish the West Central Georgia Cancer Coalition. She wrote the grant for the Regional Program of Excellence designation that was awarded by the state in 2003. Nancy served as the first president for the West Central Georgia Cancer Coalition. Surrounded by five healing gardens, the holistic and comprehensive John B. Amos Cancer Center opened for patient services in January 2005.

In December 2005, Nancy left the John B. Amos Cancer Center to serve as the executive director for the newly formed and constructed, Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion in Savannah, Georgia. The Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion is a unique model engaging private practice physicians to work in concert with the St. Joseph's/Candler Health System for the enhancement of cancer care and treatment throughout the system and region. Ms. Johnson facilitated a system wide and statewide effort that forged a clinical alliance between three areas of the state and achieved national recognition for St. Joseph's/Candler when the Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion was selected by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as a Community Cancer Centers Program Pilot. This effort focuses on rapidly moving advances in cancer care at the NCI level into the communities where the majority of cancer patients are treated.

Since moving to Savannah, Nancy served as the founding President for the newly established Coastal Georgia Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen For the Cure Foundation. She also serves on the state steering committee that worked to rewrite the Cancer Control Plan for the State of Georgia which is now in its implementation phase. Aside from her community service relating to cancer care, Nancy is a member of the Savannah Club of the Zonta International Club for Advancing the Status of Women Worldwide. Her interests are channeled toward the elimination of human trafficking and increasing the education of women worldwide.

When she is not focusing on her work and community, she spends time writing fiction and non-fiction. Nancy believes that every person she meets enhances the person she is becoming. As she tells her daughters, "God is not finished with me, yet."

As she progresses through each waking day, she does her best to align her work and pleasure with her personal mission statement crafted in a moment of prayer well over a decade ago:

"Lead and inspire others to improve themselves and their environment by the grace of God working through me."