Community Groups Join With HOPE Fund To Solve Problems

Generous Supporters Remind Patients They Are Not Alone

The McLeod Health Foundation’s HOPE (Helping Oncology Patients Everyday) Fund has always focused on solving problems for cancer patients.

At the McLeod Centers for Cancer Treatment and Research in Florence and Little River, a large percentage of patients are treated with lifesaving chemotherapy and immunotherapy each year. Many of these patients require a Portacath (Port) being placed before their treatment begins.

This device is implanted underneath the skin, usually in the chest, providing long term access to a vein. Its purpose is to help eliminate painful, regular IV placement for oncology patients receiving treatments for an extended period.

Often for a nurse to access the port to administer chemotherapy or immunotherapy, the patient has to remove their shirt many times in a multiple patient areas. Already uneasy and uncomfortable ahead of their treatment, this ends up being another point of discomfort for the patient. To alleviate this issue, the staff at the McLeod Cancer Centers introduced the concept of a “Port Shirt.” 

This comfortable, stretchy top has zippers placed that run from the neck down across the chest to allow for seamless, comfortable port access for patients. 

Funded by the HOPE Fund, the first port shirt was offered to a patient in March 2025. The relief in her eyes following the exchange was unmistakable. The team quickly realized what a blessing these shirts were to patients with ports.

Now, over a year later, more than 200 patients have received specialized port access shirts in Florence. The McLeod Angels and the McLeod Circle of Excellence Young Giving Society also joined with the HOPE Fund to provide support for these special shirts.

In recent months, patients at the McLeod Center for Cancer Treatment and Research in Horry County have also begun receiving these special shirts, courtesy of the North Myrtle Beach Rotary Club’s ‘Comfort for the Cure’ initiative.

Melissa Wober, President of the North Myrtle Beach Rotary Club, said, “This donation is about more than clothing -- it’s about showing patients that their community cares and they are not alone.”