Matt McUmber of Rock Spring, Ga., has joined the staff of the Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer, as a licensed clinical social worker.
Mr. McUmber, who started on Monday, comes to the foundation from Highland Rivers Health in Dalton, Georgia where he served as Lead Therapist/Clinical Lead. Previously, McUmber was an adjunct graduate professor at Southern Adventist University in Collegedale.
Mr. McUmber graduated from Springfield (Massachusetts) College with a bachelor’s degree in Science Human Services. He earned a master’s degree in Social Work from Southern Adventist in 2013.
At Highland Rivers Health, Mr. McUmber oversaw therapy programs for young children, adolescents, adults and groups. Areas of responsibility also included clinical and ethical oversight, clinical leadership and supervision and program development.
Mr. McUmber is the latest addition to the Austin Hatcher Foundation staff, which is now headquartered in its new Education Advancement Center (EAC), which opened in downtown Chattanooga last year. The center focuses on diagnosing and treating educational and functional deficits associated with pediatric cancer and its life-saving treatments. The center’s programs include industrial arts and driving simulation along with school tutorial programs, neuro-cognitive testing and remediation and other specialty programs designed to optimize recovery from cancer by both patients and their families.
The Austin Hatcher Foundation’s mission is to erase the effects of pediatric cancer on young patients and their families, while optimizing each child’s quality of life through essential specialized intervention beginning at the time of diagnosis and continuing throughout survivorship.
“I’m excited about the mission,” Mr. McUmber said, “because it falls in line with my passion, working with families. The foundation is doing great things in that area and also in some groundbreaking research [at the EAC]. Building rapport and developing long-term relationships with children and families is always what I’ve enjoyed. I think that sort of thing is really beneficial.”
“We are in the process of boosting our staff to meet the growing needs of the young patients and families we assist,” said Austin Hatcher Foundation Amy Jo Osborn. “The people we are bringing in, like Matt, are first-rate and perfect complements to the staff already on-board. Matt’s experience will serve us well as we continue to grow awareness of our mission.”