The Cancer Centers of SWOK serve patients from Altus, Lawton and Duncan. For patients who can’t drive themselves to treatment, there’s another way to get there. It’s through the free transportation service the centers provide.
Billie Payne has been a patient using the transportation service since 2007. She lives 30 miles away, and says she needed help getting to her treatments at the Leah M. Fitch Cancer Center.
“The men are so nice. They even come get you at the door,” Payne said.
Payne says if they didn’t have this service, she would have to pay someone to bring her.
“Very grateful. They’re right on time. When they say they’re coming to get you, they’re coming to get you.”
Jack Bozarth has been driving patients to and from treatments for 6 years.
“I enjoy it. I look forward to doing it. There’s times when I’m unable to do it and I miss it. It’s in my routine. I love doing it,” Bozarth said. “I come early and stay as late as we need to. And the other drivers feel the same way.”
Bozarth says they often pick up the same patients, so they get to know them well.
“We pick up patients who come in week after week for treatment,” Bozarth said. “So, we’re picking up the same patients on Tuesday that we did the week before that. So, we get to know them, and get to know about their family. And we share about ourselves.”
Payne says the drivers are all so helpful and would recommend anyone who needs a ride to treatment, to call them.
“They make sure that you’re well, and make sure you get home alright. Make sure you get in your door alright. They come and get you,” Payne said.
Bozarth says volunteering to be a driver is a great way for someone looking to give back.
“It’s a sharing your time with other people,” Bozarth said. “It’s a service that they need. We look at it as a lifeline for them, so they can get their treatment.”
If you would like to become a volunteer driver, you can pick up an application at the cancer center, or call them at 536-2121.