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During a Mass and “Blessing for a Long Life” ceremony specifically for the elderly last month in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis told those gathered that “a people who don’t take care of their grandparents and don’t treat them well is a people with no future. Why no future? Because they lose the memory (of the past) and they sever their own roots.”
That message had already taken root at Mary Manning Walsh Home in Manhattan years ago. It will be further carried out with the opening of the new Dawn Greene Hospice, a 10-bed facility located on the home’s 15th floor.
Cardinal Dolan blessed the hospice during an Oct. 1 ceremony.
The Dawn Greene Hospice is a partnership between Calvary Hospital and Mary Manning Walsh. They are part of ArchCare, the archdiocese’s Continuing Care Community.
Sister Sean William O’Brien, O. Carm., executive director of Mary Manning Walsh, noted, “The Carmelite tradition of providing innovative and patient-focused care to the most vulnerable among us—the elderly—is aligned perfectly with Calvary’s core values of compassion, care, dignity and non-abandonment.”
Dr. Thomas J. Fahey Jr., chairman of Calvary Hospital’s board of directors and a member of the ArchCare board of trustees attended the ceremony, as did Christina McInerney, president and chief executive officer of the Jerome L. Greene Foundation. The foundation’s $4 million gift to ArchCare, for the benefit of Calvary Hospital, made the hospice possible.
Mrs. McInerney’s mother, Dawn Greene, was a champion of Calvary’s mission, although she was never a patient herself. She was committed to the hospital’s desire to establish a stronger presence in Manhattan. When she died in 2010, she left Calvary an unrestricted bequest of $5 million for its general operating expenses, the largest gift Calvary has ever received.
Calvary Hospice is a Medicare/Medicaid certified program that provides palliative and end-of-life care for patients with advanced cancer and life-limiting illnesses. It will provide short-term inpatient care at the Dawn Greene Hospice, for patients whose symptoms and care needs cannot be met in the home setting.
The patient care program includes a full-time Calvary Hospice medical director who is Board certified in hospice and palliative care, and hospice and palliative care-trained staff in nursing, social work and spiritual care. The 10 newly renovated private rooms each have private bathrooms; complimentary cable television and phone service; state-of-the-art patient care equipment; a family room with refrigerator, microwave oven, and coffee maker; and 24/7 visiting hours.
Also present at the ceremony were Frank A. Calamari, president and chief executive officer of Calvary, and Scott LaRue, president of ArchCare.
