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Charlene’s Story: Grateful for Bon Secours Personalized Care

For Charlene Trotter, a resident of Port Jervis, the personalized care she and her husband receive at Bon Secours Community Hospital makes all the difference.

“A hospital like ours is not something all communities have,” said Charlene. “My husband and I are continuously impressed with the high-quality, personalized care the Bon Secours doctors and nurses provide. I also love that our healthcare staff are our neighbors—the same people we wave to on the street. When I think of an organization where my support can make an impact, I think of our local hospital!”

Join Charlene and show your gratitude at Give.WMCHealth.org/BSCH.

Share your story at InfoBSCH@wmhealth.org.

More inspirational stories from Bon Secours:

Sophia’s Story: Eight-Year-Old Sophia Thriving after Heart Surgery

For 8-year-old Sophia Pinto, the skill of pediatric surgeons at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital made it possible for her to live a full and active life and be the bubbly and happy child she is today.

A third-grader at Matthew Patterson Elementary School in Carmel, Sophia loves to draw, sing, and play with her baby dolls, says mom Christina. But, she added, “It has been some journey.”

Sophia’s journey started before she was born when 16 weeks into her mother’s pregnancy doctors discovered that her heart was not developing properly. Because the right side of her heart was malformed, Sophia had to overcome some serious challenges that began with open heart surgery when she was just one-week old. Another surgery followed at three months old, and a third surgery in 2017 when Sophia was three and a half years old.

 “We really didn’t expect her to survive, said Christina. “Since her third surgery, a new child has emerged. It’s truly a miracle.”

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Syndi’s Story: Suffern Resident is Giving Back to Good Samaritan after Husband’s Cancer Treatment

Syndi Bergstein was so grateful for the wonderful care her husband received during his treatment for cancer that she is giving back to help other patients at Good Samaritan Hospital. The Suffern resident has gifted more than 20 of her elaborately designed quilts to patients at the hospital’s Bobbi Lewis Cancer Center.

“I was amazed when I came for treatment, I left with a lovely quilt. This generous gift is a welcome surprise during such a hard time in my life,” said patient William Skerry, who received one of Syndi’s quilts.

To Syndi, whose two daughters were born at Good Samaritan, giving back just made sense.

“To give to someone in need, to help a patient going through a tough time, is more meaningful than selling my quilts for any amount of money,” said Syndi, who urged others to follow her example and give to the hospital.

More inspirational stories from Good Samaritan Hospital:

Ron’s Story: We Support Local Healthcare

For Roger Vander Plaat, a 30-year resident of Warwick, knowing that St. Anthony Community Hospital has been there for him and his family has been a great comfort.

“Over the years, each of our family members has needed care at St. Anthony,” said Roger. The need was very urgent in some cases, and it was reassuring to know that well-trained, compassionate doctors and nurses, many of whom are our friends and neighbors, were there to provide care. As a husband and father, these situations required me to put my family in the hands of others—the staff at St. Anthony. Their kindness and concern have always proven to be exceptional.”

More inspirational stories from St. Anthony Community Hospital:

Domenick’s Story: Infant Gets Expert Care for COVID-19 Close to Home in Poughkeepsie

For 8-month-old Domenick, the pediatric unit at Maria Fareri Children’s Healthcare Services at MidHudson Regional Hospital was a lifesaver. When Domenick contracted COVID-19 in January, and his condition worsened, his mom Adrienne was relieved that he could get advanced care without having to travel to Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Valhalla.

“We went to the ER four times, but when he became dehydrated they had to admit him. The staff there was so attentive to his needs. It was really nice having a pediatric unit close to home and not having to travel.“

More inspirational stories from Maria Fareri Childrens Hospital:

Anna’s Story: Stamford Woman Grateful to WMC after Emerging from COVID-19 Coma

Anna Marie Giorgi fought her way back to life after COVID-19 left her in a coma for 10 days following the birth of her son in March of 2021. The Stamford mother, hair salon owner and Strong Woman competition organizer said the care she received a Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla was the key to her survival.

After suffering blood clots, double pneumonia and intubation, she spent more than a year with help of her extended family and Westchester Medical Center making a comeback.

“The journey has made me stronger in so many ways,” said Anna Marie. “I am grateful to the cardiac team at Westchester Medical Center and to everyone there who believed that I could make it back.’’

Anna says she has a new appreciation for her life as wife, mother and salon owner. She’s also returned to competition with new vigor. It’s just great to be alive, she says.

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Agnes’s Story: Agnes “Cookie” Reis Gets Expert Heart Care at HealthAlliance and WMC

For Agnes “Cookie” Reis, who underwent a cardiac catheterization procedure in January, HealthAlliance Hospital’s new Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory ensured that she got the advanced care she needed right in Kingston. And because HealthAlliance is a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network, when it turned out that Agnes needed open heart surgery, her transfer to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla was seamless.

Agnes who was nicknamed “Cookie” because her mother said she was no bigger than a cookie at birth, has been through many medical challenges in recent years and says she is grateful for the care she received.

“I can’t speak more highly of WMCHealth,” said Agnes. “Every doctor, every nurse, every aide took a personal interest in me. I received wonderful, wonderful care in Kingston, and Valhalla. It was a very positive experience.’’

Please give to HealthAlliance Hospital today!

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Ella

Ella’s Story: Brent Truitt and Ella, a Labrador/Shepherd, Visit Seniors at Mountainside

For residents of the Mountainside Residential Care Center, part of Margaretville Hospital, 7-year-old Ella, a Labrador/Shepherd mix, has been a bright spot in their days. Brent Truitt, Ella’s owner and handler, has been paying visits to Mountainside since 2017, and even scheduled virtual visits during the pandemic when residents needed TLC most.

“They light up and smile whenever they see her,’’ said Brent. “When I started this five years ago, I had no idea how powerful these visits would be. When we returned after COVID, they cried they were so happy to see her.’’

In March, Ella reached a milestone, making 10,000 one-on-one visits with residents.

More inspirational stories from Margaretville Hospital:

Girls’ Night Out Fashion and Beauty Event Brings Awareness to Women’s Heart Health

Important Fundraiser Supports WMCHealth’s Heart & Vascular Institute

VALHALLA, NY (February 11, 2022) – Girls’ Night Out, a fashion and beauty event that brings awareness to women’s heart health while supporting care provided by WMCHealth’s Heart & Vascular Institute, will be held in-person March 3 at Sonesta White Plains Downtown in White Plains, NY.

The annual event, emceed this year by Emmy-award-winning, WCBS-TV news anchor Mary Calvi, is an opportunity for colleagues and friends to network, shop, dance and enjoy fine food and drink, while learning the benefits of good heart health.

Heart disease remains the number one killer of women in the United States, causing one-third of all female deaths annually. With the proper lifestyle and treatment, however, 80 percent of heart ailments and strokes are preventable, according to the American Heart Association.

Many of these life-changing and lifesaving heart treatments are offered by the Westchester Medical Center Health Network’s (WMCHealth) Heart & Vascular Institute, and Girls’ Night Out also serves as a fundraiser for this important service. WMCHealth’s Heart & Vascular Institute offers the Hudson Valley’s most comprehensive cardiac care program, offering a wide range of cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery and vascular surgery services to women, men and patients of all ages.

An Evening to Remember
Girls’ Night Out will begin with a cocktail hour during which guests can shop a variety of vendors, and secure beauty tips during live demonstrations in the Bloomingdale’s White Plains beauty suite. Raffle prizes and a silent auction will be available, too.

Following the cocktail hour, guests will enjoy dinner while watching the event’s highlight: a pre-recorded fashion show sponsored by Macy’s at Cross County Shopping Center in Yonkers.  The fashion show will feature patients, healthcare providers and their dramatic stories of triumph over cardiac disease.

Event Inspiration

Girls Night Out was inspired by Tanya Dutta, MD, to support the WMCHealth Heart and Vascular Institute.  Dr. Dutta was Director of Echocardiography at Westchester Medical Center before her passing last year.

How Do I Get Tickets?

For tickets and other information, please visit Give.WMCHealth.org/GNO22. Red attire is encouraged and for the health and safety of our guests, Girls’ Night Out will be held in compliance with New York State regulations, which currently require proof of vaccination for all those attending.

Girl’s Night Out corporate sponsors include Boston Children’s Health Physicians; Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy & Bach, LLP; Martin, Clearwater & Bell LLP Mobile Life Support Services, Inc.; New York Medical College; The Premier Collection; ShopRite Supermarkets, Inc.; TD Bank; Tompkins Mahopac Bank; Unitex Textile Rental Services; Vigorito, Barker, Patterson, Nichols & Porter LLP;  Vizient and Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP.

Event sponsors include Bloomingdale’s White Plains; Cross County Center; Macy’s and Navy E. Djonovic.

About Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network

Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital is the children’s hospital for New York’s Hudson Valley region and Fairfield County, Connecticut. Located in Valhalla, NY, this 136-bed advanced pediatrics facility cares for the region’s most seriously ill and injured children including those in need of cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, hematology and oncology treatments, organ transplants and other specialty pediatric services.  Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital is also home to the area’s only Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Level I pediatric trauma and burn care programs and its Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.  For more information on Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, interested parties can visit WestchesterMedicalCenter.org/MFCH or follow the hospital at Facebook.com/MFCHatWMC and Twitter.com/MFCHatWMC.

About Westchester Medical Center Health Network


The Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) is a 1,700-bed healthcare system headquartered in Valhalla, New York, with 10 hospitals on eight campuses spanning 6,200 square miles of the Hudson Valley. WMCHealth employs more than 12,000 people and has nearly 3,000 attending physicians. From Level 1, Level 2 and Pediatric Trauma Centers, the region’s only acute care children’s hospital, an academic medical center, several community hospitals, dozens of specialized institutes and centers, skilled nursing, assisted living facilities, homecare services and one of the largest mental health systems in New York State, today WMCHealth is the pre-eminent provider of integrated healthcare in the Hudson Valley. For more information about WMCHealth, visit WMCHealth.org.

The Russins’ Story: A Westchester couple pays tribute to Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital’s NICU with a charitable fund that honors the memory of their premature twin babies

Andrea Russin was just 26 weeks pregnant with twins, when she unexpectedly gave birth at home to two premature infant boys that weighed just over 1 pound each who were not breathing on their own.

Andrea and her husband, Adam, called 911. Emergency medical technicians revived the babies and then rushed mother and newborns to Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth). The hospital has the only Level IV Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in the Hudson Valley.

Named Jacob and Samuel, the babies’ condition was dire. They were placed on ventilators, while the NICU staff carefully attended to their needs.

Tragically, Jacob passed away one day after his arrival. Samuel continued to fight, and Andrea, now on leave from her job, stayed by his side. In the months that followed, she and Adam became deeply familiar — and impressed — with the NICU’s caring staff.

 “They treated us like we were their family. That’s not something that can be faked or manufactured. The nurses became such a part of our family, and our family story, that we will be forever grateful,” Adam says.

The staff grew just as fond of Andrea and Adam. “They are smart, capable people,” says Edmund F. La Gamma, MD, Chief of the Division of Newborn Medicine at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, noting that the couple pored over a textbook, Preemies: The Essential Guide for Parents of Premature Babies, which a faculty member gave them.

Sue Malfa, RN, nurse manager of the NICU, remembers the Russins’ expressiveness and strong connection to their son. “They would come in and cry but, at Samuel’s bedside, they would smile at his beautiful face or even laugh while talking to him,” she remembers.

Sadly, about three and a half months after his arrival at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, Samuel succumbed to his critical condition. “It was very quiet in the room,” Malfa recalls. “It involved everyone including the nurses and staff.”

The NICU staff’s tireless efforts to save Jacob and Samuel made a profound and lasting impression on the Russins. “The easy thing to do would be to focus on our sons dying. But instead, we focus on the love and the care that they received while they were here for their short lives, and that’s what means so much to us,” Adam says.

“Adam uses the word superheroes to describe the nursing staff and the first word that comes to my mind is angels,” says Andrea. “Because how could a stranger that doesn’t even know you, show such genuine compassion? It really makes the difference in what the experience is like when you’re watching someone else take care of your baby.”

With donations from family, friends, and community members, the couple established The Russin Family Fund, and uses its resources to support Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital’s NICU. They gifted more than 300 copies of Preemies, the textbook that they relied on during their ordeal, to other NICU parents.

The Russins generosity is helping to expand the care provided by the children’s hospital, which currently treats more than 30,000 critically ill infants and children each year from across the Hudson Valley and beyond.

The hospital’s neonatal group also provides on-site neonatologists to eight other local hospitals, to assist babies from the moment of birth. In Dr. La Gamma’s experience, survival outcomes at Maria Fareri Children Hospital’s NICU rival those of any facility worldwide.

“Beyond high-quality medical services, we also value high-quality communication and interaction,” Dr. La Gamma says. “We understand the heavy toll these situations take on families, and we are committed to supporting them as well.”

“I am forever grateful,” says Andrea. “I was so thankful and blessed that I ended up here sort of by accident in an emergency situation, in such an incredible hospital.” Adds Adam: “If you have to be in a children’s hospital, or your family has to be in a children’s hospital, there is no better place on the planet than Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital.”

More inspirational stories from Maria Fareri Childrens Hospital: