Ellen Hermanson Foundation Hosts Summer Gala, To Honor Two

The Ellen Hermanson Foundation will honor Dr. Fredric I. Weinbaum, medical doctor, chief medical officer and chief operating officer of Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, and State Assemblywoman Rebecca A. Seawright, whose 3-D screening legislation expands access to cancer screenings without cost sharing to include 3-D mammography.

They will be recognized at the center’s Summer Gala fundraiser on July 13.

“I was involved in leading the team that built what is currently the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center,” Weinbaum said, adding that he met Julie Ratner, the co-founder of the foundation, in 2007. The foundation and center are named for Ratner’s sister, Ellen Hermanson, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 1989 and died in 1995 at age 42.

She has been a major supporter of the community and hospital’s ability to provide services through funding and community outreach, Weinbaum said. Every year, the foundation puts on Ellen’s Run, a 5K fundraiser to support breast cancer care and the center. The 29th annual Ellen’s Run will take place on Sunday, August 18, with a 9 a.m. start, rain or shine, at Southampton Intermediate School at 70 Leland Lane.

“Ellen’s sisters provided the driving force to create Ellen’s Run and the Ellen Hermanson Foundation. They’ve done so much for the hospital and the community. It is a humbling honor to be mentioned in the same sentence,” he said. “I treasure knowing Julie Ratner. She is a force of nature. We wouldn’t have the excellent, state-of-the-art care in Southampton without Julie.”

The foundation primarily serves breast cancer patients on the East End, providing educational outreach about the importance of early detection, and access to mammography and treatment to medically underserved communities, as well as funding psychosocial support services that address the broad range of issues facing breast cancer patients, survivors, spouses, families and friends.

“The Ellen Hermanson Foundation has been a terrific partner in our mission to provide the best health care and wellness for the community,” Weinbaum explained, adding that he too participates in Ellen’s Run. “I can tell from the passion and the love and dedication that has gone into the foundation that Ellen Hermanson was a fantastic person and I wish I could’ve known her.”

The foundation will hold its 2024 Summer Gala fundraising event on Saturday, July 13, at 6:30 p.m. at Bridgehampton Tennis & Surf Club in Bridgehampton. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served on the deck, along with dinner, dancing and an auction followed by an after-party beach bonfire and s’mores.

Seawright said the foundation is close to her heart. “For years, I’ve been participating in Ellen’s Run,” she said.

Seawright was the first woman elected to her district to serve the 76th Assembly District, which encompasses the Upper East Side, Yorkville, and Roosevelt Island, in 2014. She has secured hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding for public schools, senior centers, parks, and nonprofits. She holds the leadership positions on the People with Disabilities Committee and previously served as chair of the Majority Steering Committee, secretary of the Majority Conference, and as chair of the Task Force on Women’s Issues. Nominated by her colleagues, she serves as a director of the Legislative Women’s Caucus and works with her colleagues as part of the bipartisan Pro-Choice, Jewish, Environmental, and Gun Reform Legislative Caucuses.

Legislation that she sponsored now requires health insurance policies to include 3-D mammography at no cost to the patient.

“This bill clarifies that insurers would cover 3-D mammograms without copays or deductibles,” she explained. “Early detection is key.”

Seawright is hopeful about another bill she is sponsoring that would provide for individuals to receive breast cancer screenings under an insurance plan when the individual has a second degree relative with a prior history of breast cancer. The law would expand insurance coverage for women in the state to those with second-degree family members, like grandmothers, granddaughters, aunts or nieces, who have had breast cancer.

“I feel very strongly in this new legislation to expand the scope of who is covered by insurance,” she said, adding that men also get breast cancer.

“I appreciate the opportunity to help this charity and to raise money and to grow,” she said. “I strongly believe in their mission.”

The Ellen Hermanson Breast Center ensures access to state-of-the-art breast health care and empowers people affected by cancer. The center utilizes digital mammography with tomosynthesis, 3D mammography, which is the best screening tool for the early detection of breast abnormalities. The Affirm Prone Breast Biposy System delivers faster, more comfortable procedures by increasing automation, providing superior imaging, and giving 360-degree access to the breast with high-quality 2D or 3D tomosynthesis imaging and a field of view that is more than 6.5 times larger than older generations of prone biopsy systems. Their breast MRI technology uses the latest software available, while their ultrasound guided biopsies are minimally invasive.

Earlier this year, the foundation was awarded $363,000 in grants to further its mission of assisting people being treated for breast cancer. The funding advances the center, where no patients are turned away for lack of insurance. Grants were also awarded to members of the Ellen Hermanson Foundation Community Partnership to support bilingual outreach, social support and breast care education for women without ready access to health care.

East End organizations that are members of partnership include the Shinnecock Health Center at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, the Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center, OLA (Organización Latino-Americana) of Eastern Long Island, The Retreat and Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert Ellen Hermanson Memorial Symposium.

This year, funds raised at the gala will go toward acquiring a cutting-edge tomosynthesis mammography machine at the center, providing breast screenings and diagnostic procedures, allocating Ellen’s Well micro-grants for transportation and social services, supporting the Phillips Family Cancer Care Summit and paying a licensed clinical social worker, a nurse practitioner and an oncology nurse patient navigator at Ellen’s Well.

The event will feature DJ Michael of East End Entertainment and cuisine by Robbins Wolfe Eventeurs. Lucas Hunt, president of HUNT Auctioneers and a celebrated American poet, will be the master of ceremonies for a live auction. Jean Shafiroff, noted philanthropist and author, is the gala chair, along with the Young Professional Committee, Host Committee and the Board of Directors.

To purchase gala tickets, visit ellenhermanson.org.