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Some of the many BWHers who continually help make the house a safe, peaceful place gather on its front steps.
The nine families staying at the Thornton and Naumes House at 48 Francis St. will receive dinners complete with turkey and all the fixings, including pie and cider, on Thanksgiving Day.
Coordinated by BWH Social Work, the dinners are donated through the IMP for families of mesothelioma and oncology patients who stay across the street from their hospitalized loved ones in the Thornton and Naumes Mesothelioma House and the Patrick Thompson Suites.
“All the families here last year loved the Thanksgiving dinners,” said Cristin O’Rourke, coordinator of the house, which serves families traveling a distance to BWH. “One floor heated it up and ate dinner together, and other families took their portions to the hospital to have a holiday meal with their loved one.”
The support and compassion these families receive from departments and individuals across the hospital is not limited to the holidays. Year-round efforts by many BWHers make the house a safe, peaceful place to stay for families of mesothelioma and hematology/oncology patients.
“As we give thanks this holiday season, we want to acknowledge so many special people who make this house a home,” said Martha Burke, MSW, LICSW, director of Social Work, which refers families of BWH patients to the house.
Housekeeping keeps 48 Francis St. clean and spotless, and Engineering helps with maintenance, like changing light bulbs and repairing leaky faucets, all with a sense of humor. “Our guests love Sean and Karim,” said O’Rourke. “They’re so funny.”
Security and Parking staff receive a daily list of who is staying in the house. Guests can call Security if they are locked out or need to check into the house after-hours. Security also conducts regular well-being checks on the house.
Staff from Environmental Services, Transportation, Chaplaincy and the Center for Community Health and Health Equity also help the house run smoothly, ensuring the comfort of families experiencing a difficult time.
The house itself would not have been possible without the support of Chief Nursing Officer and Senior Vice President for Patient Care Services Mairead Hickey, PhD, RN, Arthur Mombourquette, vice president of Support Services, director of Community Relations John McGonagle, Sonia King-Green of Care Coordination, David Sugarbaker, MD, chief of Thoracic Surgery, Jane Carey of Hematology, Leo Buckley of Patient Care Services, the neighbors in the surrounding community, Burke and many others.
The Thornton & Naumes, LLP, law firm, donated $1 million in 2007 to refurbish the entire house, and seed money for the original house was donated in 1987 by the family of 14-year-old Patrick Thompson, who received bone marrow transplants at BWH and died of cancer.
Watch a video about the house at www.bwhpikenotes.org/news/multimedia/videos/2008Archives/mesohouse.aspx