Her colleagues praise her. Her patients say they adore her. In fact, Molly Meyer, the adult nurse practitioner and primary care provider for Yale University Health Services, has so many fans on campus that they could fill a banquet room, and then some.
Meyer was recently selected as a winner of the American Cancer Society's prestigious Lane W. Adams Award, which goes each year to a handful of the nation's outstanding oncology nurses who match unquestionable expertise with notable compassion and dedication.
When members of the American Cancer Society set out to organize a dinner honoring Meyer and other recipients of the organization's award, they discovered that they could fill all the tables in the banquet room with just the coworkers and patients who wanted to gather in Meyer's honor.
"It's amazing how many lives she has touched," says Dr. Moreson Kaplan, the Yale Health Service's medical director. "Nobody ever forgets Molly." Moreson points to the many alumni who come back to Yale to visit Meyer because she had treated them during their days as undergraduates. "Her patients are very, very attached to her because of her dependability, forthrightness and attentiveness," he says.
"She has a cult following among her patients," notes Dr. Paul Genecin, the director of Yale Health Services. "There are people who find it very difficult to leave Yale because of Molly," who has served as their lifeline during an illness.
Genecin and Kaplan say Meyer's performance clearly matches the criteria for her recent award.
"She has tremendous clinical experience and wisdom," Genecin says. "She adds to that an inexhaustible reservoir of commitment and respect for her patients."
As the coordinator of oncology services, Meyer provides the essential continuity for patients, ensuring that all the care provided by various clinicians is seamlessly conducted, notes Kaplan. "It's Molly who always answers the call when something needs to be done."
"She makes a team wherever she goes," Genecin agrees. "She has a knack for mobilizing people. You can't teach that."
In describing Meyer's award-winning attributes, Kaplan and Genecin emphasized her round-the-clock devotion to her patients.
"She's available to people at any hour," Genecin says, noting that she can often be found at the Health Services facility at 17 Hillhouse Ave. in the evenings and on her days off. "Molly makes every patient feel that he or she has her undivided attention and energy. She's an extraordinary role model who raises the bar for all of us."
A long-time patient of Meyer's, who does not wish to be named, agrees. "Of all her patients, including those with a more serious illness, I always thought my needs were foremost in her mind. I'm sure we all feel that way, and somehow we are all right."
As someone who has seen Meyer make visits at night to patients at home, in hospitals and at hospices, Genecin finds her energy level amazing.
"If you had to replace her, you'd probably have to hire four people," he says. It was this level of commitment that inspired Meyer's Yale colleagues to name her as Outstanding Provider in 1991.
"Many of her patients have her home phone number," says Dr. Arthur L. Levy, a medical oncologist and association clinical professor at the School of Medicine, who treats cancer patients at the Yale Health Plan. Levy, who was among those who recommended Meyer for the American Cancer Society award, says she also offers psychological support to patients' family members and stays in contact with those who have lost a loved one. In addition to teaming up with the doctors in their work, Meyer also supports them when they face the emotional strain of being unable to cure a patient, says Levy.
In addition to her oncology-related duties, Meyer's provider duties extend to internal medicine and student medicine, and she is a favorite among student-athletes.
"They're called 'Molly's kids,'" said Genecin, adding that the counseling and care of relatively healthy young students can refuel a clinician like Meyer who becomes so closely involved with her cancer patients. "Molly never burns out."
An advance practice registered nurse (A.P.R.N.), Meyer earned her B.A. at Skidmore College and her B.S. in nursing at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She received her M.S. in health services from Southern Connecticut State University and joined Yale Health Services in 1971.
A native of Dover Plains, New York, Meyer is also on the board of
directors of Dwight Hall and is an assistant clinical professor of the
School of Nursing's Adult Advanced Practice Nursing Program.
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