Spirit of Women National Healthcare Provider Winner

In the category of healthcare provider our Spirit of Women National Winner appreciates full well how precious life is. As a single mother of two boys, Debra Ashe was in the process of developing a revolutionary program for pregnancy care when she was struck with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. While spending weeks in isolation in a Houston Hospital in 1995, our national winner, developer and manager of the Perinatal Care Coordination program at TriHealth, continued to design her program. Today, this care coordination program is recognized as a benchmark to improve the care of women and their families during pregnancy and delivery.

When she returned home after the treatment, Debra was amazed at how many people sought her out for information on cancer and the emotional and physical responses with which the body and mind must cope. So she decided it would be beneficial for others if she put her experience into words. In her book, A Fighting Spirit, our national winner re-lives her experiences with cancer to help others understand the physical and emotional effects of this disease. In her own words, she says she is a cancer fighter rather than a cancer survivor. Debra has dedicated her life to her sons and has fought for life so her sons would have a mother to love and guide them.

When many people in her situation, living with cancer, might concentrate on their own needs, Debra has continued to stay focused on the needs of her patients, helped others with cancer understand just how special life is, participated in cancer fundraisers, contributed to her community, and most importantly raise two wonderful boys.
Her son Ryan sums her up best, “ Mom is the embodiment of Spirit, a loving spirit, a selfless spirit, a courageous spirit and a noble spirit. She is special and wonderful.”
Courage, strength and the will to fight describe Debra Ashe.