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WASHINGTON, NC – ECU Health Cancer Care recently recognized Nicole, DaVia, a physician assistant in medical oncology at the Marion L. Shepard Cancer Center with the Advanced Practice Provider of the Year award.  Nicole has been with ECU Health and the Shepard Cancer Center in Washington since 2022.

Nicole’s passion for oncology is due in part to her personal experiences with cancer. When she was 14, she was diagnosed with leukemia and as an adult was diagnosed with breast cancer.  “I always wanted to have a career in medicine, ever since I was a child, said DaVia. Little did I know that I would experience it on the other side as a patient when I was a teenager.”

Nicole found her home at the Marion L. Shepard Cancer Center because she went there as a patient for her own breast cancer treatments. Akin to her own experience, Nicole said the patients who come to the Washington cancer center appreciate the small community feel. “It’s a close-knit office with a great staff and homey environment,” she said. “It’s a perfect setting for our patients, and it keeps their care close to home. They are going through such a traumatic experience, and we become an extended family to them.” The team, also, is a big part of the center’s success. “We have the full gamut of what patients need right here with many supportive services. It’s a cohesive group and we try to support each other so we can do the best for our patients,” Nicole said.

Rebecca Simmons, the manager of patient care oncology at ECU Health Beaufort Hospital, has seen Nicole’s kindness in action. “She’s a very caring person who sees the patient as a whole, and not just a diagnosis,” she said. “She brings compassion and a vast depth of knowledge to our center.”

Dr. Emmanuel Zervos, executive director of ECU Health Cancer Care expressed appreciation for Nicole’s work in the Washington cancer cent​er location. “She’s been working in this service line for more than a decade, and she has provided a level of consistency in that practice. She is the epitome of a physician extender. Her work allows many patients in Beaufort County to receive top quality care without having to travel far from home.”

 About ECU Health

ECU Health is a mission-driven, 1708-bed academic health care system serving more than 1.4 million people in 29 eastern North Carolina counties. The not-for-profit system is comprised of more than 14,000 team members, nine hospitals and a physician group that encompasses over 1,100 academic and community providers practicing in over 185 primary and specialty clinics located in more than 110 locations. The flagship ECU Health Medical Center, a Level I Trauma Center, and ECU Health Maynard Children’s Hospital serve as the primary teaching hospitals for the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. ECU Health and the Brody School of Medicine share a combined academic mission to improve the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina through patient care, education and research. For more information, visit ECUHealth.org.