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BWH mourns the loss of Joanne M. Garvey, MSN, RN, a BWH nurse for more than 20 years, who was well known for her calming nature, generosity and a “twinkle in her eye.” She died Jan. 3 after a courageous battle with cancer at the age of 53.
“She was an incredibly talented nurse,” said Christine Dutkiewicz, MSN, RN, CCM, nurse manager of Care Coordination. Ms.Garvey held many Nursing leadership roles at BWH and served most recently as an RN care coordinator.
Known for her warm smile and quick wit, Ms. Garvey would do anything to help a patient, family member or colleague. Once, she gave the coat off her back to a patient at discharge. “That’s the kind of nurse she was,” said colleague Sue Kucharski, RN.
As a member of the BWH Homeless Committee and the coordinator of the BWH Food Group to Pine Street Inn, Ms. Garvey extended her compassion to the community. “Joanne was a woman of great humility and had a strong sense of social justice,” said Joanne Hogan, MS, RN, director of Care Coordination.
Samuel Z. Goldhaber, MD, senior staff cardiologist and director of the Venous Thromboembolism Research Group and the BWH Anticoagulation Service, worked closely with Ms. Garvey and remembers the compassion with which she treated her patients.
“Whatever she did, she managed to touch people with her humanity,” he said. “She served as a model of bravery and connected naturally to the many hundreds of people who were fortunate enough to get to know her. She was a compassionate nurse who could care for a wide spectrum of patients—from the sickest imaginable hospitalized patient to the worried but healthy outpatient.”
Ms. Garvey joined BWH in 1985 and held a number of positions, including assistant director of Nursing for Women and Newborn Health, RN care coordinator and nurse manager of Tower 12. She began her career as a staff nurse at Boston City Hospital in 1974.
Ms. Garvey was born and raised in Boston and had lived in Milton. She received a diploma from the Boston City Hospital School of Nursing in 1974, a bachelor’s in Nursing from Northeastern University in 1979 and a master’s in Nursing Administration from Boston University in 1985. She was a doctoral candidate in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at UMass-Boston.
Ms. Garvey is survived by her brothers Stephen J. Garvey of Rockland and William A. Garvey of Hanson; a sister, Mary Ann Rogers of Bridgewater; an aunt, Sister Anna Mary Kelly, C.S.J. of Milton; and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.
Services were held on Monday at St. Elizabeth’s Church in Milton.