Mayo Clinic Dedicates Cancer Education Center for Patients, Community

Monday, November 12, 2007

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic today celebrated the naming and endowment of its Stephen and Barbara Slaggie Family Cancer Education Center, which will ensure the permanent availability of its resources to Mayo Clinic patients and to the Minnesota community.

"When patients receive a cancer diagnosis, their minds quickly race to thinking about what comes next," says Lynn Hartmann, M.D., a Mayo Clinic oncologist and the Associate Director for Education, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. "They often have significant choices to make as we present treatment options. That's why it's so important to have these education resources that help patients and their families be fully engaged and informed."

The Stephen and Barbara Slaggie Family Foundation's $10 million gift provides for an endowment that will fund the yearly operating expenses for the Cancer Education Center. The Center serves 150 patrons per day, offering up-to-date information on prevention, diagnosis, treatment, nutrition, clinical trials, support, care giving, alternative and complementary therapies, and end-of-life care.

"This is one of the largest and most comprehensive cancer-focused patient education resource centers in the country," says Glenn Forbes, M.D., CEO of Mayo Clinic Rochester. "We're grateful that the Slaggie family's generosity has provided for its perpetual operation and growth."

The Stephen and Barbara Slaggie Family Cancer Education Center brings the resources of Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the National Cancer Institute into a one-stop center that addresses all aspects of cancer care for patients and their families. A unique partnership with ACS provides a link to ACS Navigators, who are trained to support, inform and guide individuals to cancer information and community resources. In addition to printed, multimedia and online materials, the center offers group classes and one-on-one education. Center offerings are described in more detail at www.mayoclinic.org/cancer-education-rst.

"Our family is blessed because of Mayo Clinic, and we did something to show our gratitude," says Mr. Slaggie. "We have a strong desire to make a lasting impact at Mayo and to touch the lives of the thousands of cancer patients who experience the Cancer Education Center each year. The Slaggie Family Foundation is committed primarily to educational efforts, and when the Mayo opportunity arose to broaden that effort in a unique way, keeping with our focus on education, we enthusiastically agreed to fund the Center. We are excited and gratified to be a part of Mayo in providing cancer patients with educational resources, at no charge, to help them in their choices of treatment and counsel."

Stephen Slaggie is one of the founders of the Fastenal Company, a Winona, Minn. based corporation. Fastenal is the fastest growing full-line industrial distributor and the largest fastener distributor in the nation. He has served as Secretary and Director of the company since 1970, and was its Shareholder Relations Director and Insurance Risk Manager from 1987 to 2003. Stephen and Barbara Slaggie have four grown children: Mike and Amanda Slaggie, Winona; Tom and Michelle Schlehuber, Sunfish Lake, Minn.; Greg and Sara Poulos, Boston; and Matt Slaggie, Winona. All are directors of the family foundation.

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