Regina Forsi was training with the registration team at St. Charles Cancer Center when she got confirmation that she was exactly where she was supposed to be.
“A patient came up and told us, ‘You guys make this so much easier for people by bringing smiles and love and fun to the building,’” said Forsi, a scheduling specialist. “I immediately felt welcome and like I was making a difference. It was my second full week here and the place already touched my heart.”
It wasn’t the first time. In 2020, Forsi was 25 years old and working at a local vision clinic when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and sent to the Cancer Center for treatment.
“I really loved the nurses and everyone who took care of me,” she said.
The treatments Forsi received were effective, and by the spring of 2021, doctors could find no evidence of cancer in her body. Meanwhile, at her job, she found herself increasingly interested in the administrative side of health care and decided she wanted to pursue that as a career.
“My manager at the vision clinic really helped me learn more about insurance and billing,” she said. “And then this job at St. Charles popped up and I thought, ‘I know the back end pretty well. This is an opportunity to get to know the front end as well, and with (cancer patients) I feel like I could connect with.”
Forsi got the job, of course, and she’s ecstatic to be working in the Cancer Center.
“I always joked I’d come back,” she said. “Now that I’m here, I already know where all the candy drawers are.”
Now, Forsi is studying health information management at Central Oregon Community College and relishing the opportunity to take care of people in a place where she once received such great care.
“Honestly, it’s about the patients for me,” she said. “Patient care is something that I really love, and I just feel so fortunate and excited to be part of the team.”
