Alumnus-of-the-Month: Lisa (Moore) Hineman

We are pleased that alumni have been responding by nominating their peers and classmates for alumnus-of-the month. This month’s alumnus of the month is Lisa (Moore) Hineman, class of 1982.

Lisa Moore arrived on the Auburn Adventist Academy campus in the late summer of 1979. As a 16-year-old girl, whose father had passed away, she credits Auburn Academy with “not just help make me, (but) probably saved me.”

She quickly became a dynamic student leader on campus and in the girl’s dorm where she held the position of Student Dean for 3 years. She was Editor of the school newspaper, participated in sports, drama productions, outreach activities, Student Week of Prayer and was Zeta Kappa President. All that productive activity along with being a natural go-getting, set her up for a long career of helping others in the most practical of ways.

After graduation in 1982, she joined her classmate, Cindy (Finney) Hinds and her family for a trip to California where she has remained since. Lisa started working as a nurse’s aide in convalescent homes and started pre-nursing at PUC which she completed an AS in Nursing in January 1984. A few days later, she was one of the first persons chosen to work on the oncology unit of the Glendale Adventist Medical Center. There she met the doctor/mentor she would start working with at the Los Angeles Cancer Network (www.lacancernetwork.com).

She went on to receive her bachelor’s degree and then her master’s degree in nursing. In 2002, she received a Nurse Practitioner’s license and has been in the same practice for 34 years now as an expert in cancer symptom management.

Lisa is a strong advocate for patients. As President of the Greater Los Angeles Oncology Nursing Society, she was one of the few California representatives for the National Oncology Nursing Society, who went to Washington DC and met with Nancy Pelosi and Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, addressing the disparities of how cancer affected seniors and the lack of cancer care coverage for therapies. They were able to see some positive changes immediately as a result of those meetings. Also, she advocated in Sacramento at the pharmacy board for medication coverage for underserved people so they could obtain coverage of proper antiemetic medication for patients receiving nausea inducing treatments for cancer. And they won for the patients.

Lisa started a hematology lab from the ground up and during the 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s, she ran clinical trials for AIDS, blood disorders and cancer. At the same time, she managed patient care while being the Director of Clinical Operations for one of the largest privately-owned oncology practices in southern California.

Most recently, throughout 2020 and the COVID 19 pandemic, her practice has seen the challenges of treating cancer patients while protecting them thru the strict CDC recommended guidelines in the heart of the 4th most effected state and county (Los Angeles) in the country. New protocol has meant 4 months of 16-18-hour days going from Oncology Practice professional garb to ponytails, hair coverings, scrubs and masks to keep patients SARSCOV2 (COVID 19) free and they have been highly successful.  Lisa explains, “While many primary care providers shuttered up, we remained open as well as instituted telemedicine within 24 hours to maintain contact and continue to care for our patients. We initially began providing Urgent Care type services for patients to protect them and keep them out of emergency rooms.”

Lisa is dearly loved and respected by the classmates she met at Auburn Academy and by the girls who had the privilege of being on her ‘Main West’ hall in the girl’s dorm with many of those friendships enduring 38 years later.  Hundreds of survivors have Lisa’s devotion to her patients and her highly skilled expertise to credit for a life beyond cancer. Her life of service has been far reaching and we thank you Lisa for the incredible impact you have made in the world.

Lisa recognizes how special her time at Auburn Academy was, “I truly give credit to my foundation in education, mentors, faith, amazing support and the people who contributed and helped me grow along the way. If I learned anything from Auburn, it is that life can be tough, but we are tougher. I learned the faculty, friends/family at Auburn have been the foundation of my life and I can’t wait for our 40-year reunion, hopefully in person in 2022!”