The Gift of Time: Moffitt's 40 Year Promise to Patients
Forty years ago, Florida's cancer patients often had to leave home to access specialized cancer care. Mark Pizzo remembers those days well.
When his mother was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, Moffitt Cancer Center was still a construction site. Seeking expert care meant traveling hundreds of miles to Texas. Today, world-class cancer care is available just across town.
That transformation is one of the many reasons Moffitt's 40th anniversary is worth celebrating. But for patients and families, Moffitt’s story has never been only about buildings, rankings or expansion. It is about time.
"To cancer survivors and their families, access to cutting-edge health care is not a lofty goal," said Pizzo, a longtime Moffitt volunteer and member of the Patient and Family Advisory Council. "It's the chance to experience one more hug, share another conversation, hear a child’s happy squeal, witness a daughter's wedding kiss, see a grandchild’s graduation and marvel at just how blue the sky can be."
Pizzo's relationship with Moffitt began in 2002 when he joined the Board of Advisors as a volunteer. At the time, he understood cancer primarily through the loss of his mother. Over the next two decades, cancer would touch nearly every branch of his family tree, including his father-in-law, wife, father and Pizzo himself.
"We've gone through the cancer alphabet," he said. “B-cell and T-cell lymphomas, bladder and CMML, breast and prostate.”
Through each diagnosis, treatment plan and recovery, Moffitt remained a constant.
Cristina Perez, senior director of Patient Experience, has witnessed that same evolution from inside the organization. This year marks 29 years for Perez, who says she "grew up at Moffitt," even celebrating her 21st birthday in the Infusion Center.
When she first joined, Moffitt had about 400 team members, one main campus and clinics across the street. There was no formal Patient Experience department yet, but the compassion was already there. “It truly felt like a family,” Perez said. “People showed up every day with kindness and respect, united by a shared commitment to care.”
That commitment became more intentional over time. In 2005, Pizzo became one of the founding members of Moffitt's Patient and Family Advisory Council, which continues to bring patient and caregiver voices into decisions that shape care. This year, PFAC celebrates its 20th anniversary.
For Perez, that partnership reflects what has remained consistent through Moffitt’s growth to more than 10,600 team members: a culture of compassion.
“As Moffitt celebrates 40 years, I hope patients and families remember how they were made to feel, that they were cared for, heard and never alone,” Perez said. For Pizzo, the impact is equally personal.
“Moffitt has changed many lives for the better, including mine,” he said. “And for that, I am forever grateful.”
This story was originally published in the PARTNERS newsletter. Visit Moffitt.org/PARTNERS for more stories and to learn more.