Local Women Working To Improve Lives Of Other Women

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - With it being Women's History Month, we're featuring two women who are going above and beyond for others. We've discovered the work they're doing is making a huge impact on the lives of women in the Pittsburgh area and beyond.

Dr. Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew has a long list of titles attached to her name. When she's not busy as a Senior Vice President in Diversity and leading a team of 15 at the Enterprise Equitable Health Institute, she's also a gynecologist and works on helping women of color and their babies.

"Taking care of every woman. No matter where they are on the socio-economic continuum," said Dr. Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew, Senior VP & Chief Clinical Diversity, Equity & Inclusion officer at Allegheny Health Network.

Dr. Larkins-Pettigrew has been in Pittsburgh for a little over a year. She says much of her time was spent at a hospital in Cleveland, but the steel city was calling her. While in the city she discovered Pittsburgh, although offered a lot, needed to do more when it came to supporting women—especially those who are HIV positive.

"We're talking about comprehensive care where they not only get medical care, but we're really concerned about their social determinants. How are they being transported to places they need, what's their workforce life look like." Her work has also led her to tackle infant mortality locally, which led to the program, "First Steps and Beyond."

"We know if we can decrease the death of Black babies, we decrease the death of all babies because the intervention affects everyone across the spectrum of medical care."

Meanwhile, inside Allegheny General Hospital on the North Side, a woman who is not a doctor is saving lives in her own way.

"I had no idea how horrible this disease was until it hit me personally," said Diana Napper, Glimmer of Hope founder.

Diana Napper was heartbroken when she lost her very good friend Carol Jo Friedman to Metastatic Breast Cancer at just 50 years old.

"You know when you're metastatic there's not much option or hope or treatment." In her last moments, Carol asked Diana to not let this be the end and to find a way to continue the fight.

So, Diana looked at designing jewelry, and one day someone took notice.

"And said wow, if you design a piece that would be pretty that we could wear in the board room to support breast cancer we would do it," said Napper.

That eventually led her to come up with "Glimmer of Hope" as the name for her foundation. Thanks to word of mouth and the generosity of those in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, Diana says her team has raised more than $7 million dollars. All of it has stayed local, going to research and helping women with their medical bills. But most notably it created "The Glimmer of Hope Metastatic Breast Cancer Center" inside Allegheny General.

"This center centralizes the care for these women. So that they spend more time being wives and mothers and daughters and employees and less time being patients," said Dr. Christie Hilton, Breast Cancer Oncology Lead at Allegheny Health Network.

We're told the center has only been in the hospital for about a year.

"To have a place is wonderful. But to have the people to make the place what it is, is way more important than the place," said Napper.