Stacie Beam-Bruce, MSW, Patient Navigator

Cancer is stressful enough without the headaches of sorting through an often overwhelming health-care process.

As her title implies, Stacie Beam-Bruce is a guide. But unlike patient navigators at large hospitals, Stacie doesn't just meet with new patients, link them with services, and then move on.

She follows patients through the entire course of their care at Seattle Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center.

"My job, in essence, is to make sure their needs are being met," she says. "They can throw any questions they have my way. If I don't know the answer, I will find it. I am their advocate."

Before she was hired for this position in 2006, Stacie interned with the clinic's Mind-Body Medicine Department, offering supportive counseling to patients and their families.

Her experience includes many years as a volunteer for Wellness House in Yakima, helping people facing cancer and other life threatening illnesses. She also interned at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital as a discharge planner in the intensive care and oncology units.

Stacie earned her Master in Social Work degree from Eastern Washington University and has a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental toxicology from Western Washington University.

She is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and the Association of Oncology Social Workers. She serves as the continuing education chair for the Puget Sound Oncology Social Work Network.

"The journey through a cancer diagnosis can be incredibly complex on so many levels," she says. "I am blessed to be in a position to offer compassion and understanding as I help people navigate through the process. For me, an integrated approach to wellness is essential; my contribution to this approach is making sure the core needs of people are being met so they can focus on their healing."