“If you’ve made charitable gifts to the Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation, we may have spoken over the phone. I volunteer to call donors and thank them for their gifts. At Good Samaritan, we want to share our gratitude for your support.

“I have strong emotional connections to Good Sam. Raising three sons and growing older with my husband here, it has always been our hospital. It’s part of our family history, from the birth of our youngest son to the life-saving surgery our middle son needed as an infant. When I drive by the building on Lafayette Avenue, I still see the window I looked out while waiting for him to wake up from surgery.

“When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, my emotional connections with the hospital were critical to my patient experiences, from diagnosis to surgery and from subsequent treatment to recovery.

“We are so fortunate to have Good Samaritan in our ‘backyard.’ The care we can receive here is, in part, in our hands — so let’s all do what we can, small or large, to help make sure Good Samaritan continues to provide the care we need.”

Join Phyllis and show your gratitude at Give.WMCHealth.org/GSH.

Share your story at InfoBSCH@wmhealth.org.

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“I wish I could personally thank every staff member who took care of me when I was a patient at Good Samaritan Hospital. So many wonderful people all came together to look after me,” said Nanuet resident Howard Krulik. 

Mr. Krulik shared his gratitude by making a financial gift to the Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation. “I am not wealthy, but I always find ways to give to charities,” he said. “I support Good Samaritan because it’s important to support our community hospital.”

As the number of coronavirus patients began to increase at an alarming rate in March 2020, Mr. Krulik was treated for another health issue at our Intensive Care Unit. He recalls feeling safe throughout his time here. He said that he also was very impressed with how the nurses were able to stay calm and compassionate under stressful circumstances.

Mr. Krulik said, “I used to be afraid to go to the hospital, but I’m not afraid at Good Sam. I’ve needed to rely a lot on its staff, and they’ve become family to me.  I’ll always be grateful that our local hospital provides such great care!”

Join Howard and show your gratitude at Give.WMCHealth.org/GSH.

Share your story at InfoBSCH@wmhealth.org.

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“I support Good Sam – and I hope you will too. Their healthcare teams deliver professional, excellent, compassionate care, and the hospital is well equipped to safely provide the services our community needs.” 

Good Samaritan was Gene Cortes’ first choice when he needed surgery. Even though COVID-19 was in news headlines, he said that our staff took every possible precaution to reduce virus transmission, and he felt completely safe here. Gene believes that high-quality local healthcare is more important than ever, and he is grateful to have Good Samaritan close to home. 

Before relocating to Florida, Gene Cortes was a former member of the Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation Board of Directors, owner of International Collision and New City resident.

Join Gene and show your gratitude at Give.WMCHealth.org/GSH.

Share your story at InfoBSCH@wmhealth.org.

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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.

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Having spent 21 years in the fast-paced world of retail sales, Linda Brancato didn’t think anything was amiss when she began to have spells that felt like anxiety attacks. “My heart would race, and I’d get lightheaded and dizzy,” recalls the 67-year-old Monroe resident. “I felt like I had to hold on to someone or something, because I thought I could pass out.”

A cardiologist performed a range of tests and Brancato was diagnosed with or AFib, an irregular and often rapid heartbeat. But as it turned out, the standard treatment of blood thinning medications to prevent blood clots common with the condition were not appropriate for her. 

She soon learned about a procedure where a device called a Watchman is implanted in the heart to help prevent clots without blood-thinners. She consulted with Gunjan Shukla, MD, an electrophysiologist at Good Samaritan Hospital, a member of Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth). “I left his office with a smile on my face, knowing I was going to get the help I needed,” she said.

After the procedure to implant the device, and follow up, Brancato is doing well.

“I have to give a shout-out to everyone I met during this process, from the door greeter at Good Samaritan to the nurses and doctors. I have such gratitude for my nurse coordinator, Suzanne Bartman, for checking in with me and visiting me and guiding me through the process,” she said. “They were all incredible.”

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