Page 5 - Healthcare News May/June 2022

SOUND ADVICE.
ALL YEAR ROUND.
At MBK, our experience and expertise has guided long-term planning, decision-making and problem solving for healthcare practices all over New England. We focus on helping you understand technical accounting matters and how they
apply to the strategic goals of your practice.
330 Whitney Avenue, Suite 800 | Holyoke, MA 01040 413-536-8510 | mbkcpa.com
Check out the next edition...
July/August, 2022
Editorial Focus:
Eye & Ear Health Cannabis Today Senior Planning Guide
Lists
Eye Care Specialists, Hearing Centers, Cannabis Dispensaries
Special Publication
Senior Planning Guide
AD DEADLINE: AUG. 5TH
Call Cecille Youmans, 413-781-8600, ext 112 for print/digital opportunities.
MAY/JUNE 2022 WWW.HEALTHCARENEWS.COM 5
Andy Yee was a successful entrepreneur known for his passion for giving back. The palliative care unit is a continuation of that legacy.
‘what can I do?’” she recalled. “I said ‘it’s been a tough day for the staff; I need 1,000 roast-beef sandwiches. He said ‘when?’ I said ‘tomorrow.’ He said ‘I’ll get them there.’ And he did get them there.”
This desire to give back to those at the hospital and to support employees continued until that last stay in the ICU, said Bitsoli, noting that before he fell gravely ill, Andy Yee and officials at Mercy were planning a large, thank-you- to-staff celebration that would take place in that same courtyard as the press conference. That celebration never happened, but the spirit that spawned it would inspire something with more-lasting impact on the hospital and the patients it will serve.
“As the population ages, there is considerable focus on palliative medicine, which focuses on how someone passes in a dignified way, in a setting where they are surrounded by loved ones and in a supportive manner.”
Indeed, in the latter stages of her husband’s battle against cancer, Sarah Yee said she had many conversations with Andy’s oncologist, Dr. Philip Glynn, Bitsoli, and others about how donations in Andy’s name to Mercy Medical Center might best be used. There was talk of funding additional infusion rooms, she said, referring to facilities where infusion therapy is administered to cancer patients.
But officials at Mercy identified a greater need — one for palliative care facilities that would cater to critically ill patients who are mostly at the end of their lives.
Such facilities are not common, said Bitsoli, noting that fewer than 20% of hospitals offer palliative care.
“There are not many units like this; it really takes a combination of a vision and particular type of expertise,” she noted, adding that the unit will be over- seen by Glynn and Dr. Laurie Loiacono, chief of Critical Care at Mercy. “It also takes a particular type of administration that feels committed to provid- ing that type of experience for patients and families. It’s a particular unit that is resourced and outfitted in a very unique way, and you have to be behind that vision — and we’re all behind that vision.
“As the population ages, there is considerable focus on palliative medicine, which focuses on how someone passes in a dignified way, in a setting where they are surrounded by loved ones and in a supportive manner,” she went
Please see Yee, page 7