A true look at the value of life: Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center

‘‘I would use the famous quote here that Cardinal Cooke favored ‘Life is no less precious when accompanied by sickness’: these are the words Dr. Lechich from the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center chooses to describe the place where he works and the place he loves. He continues ‘‘This was his exhortation to all of us to care for the least of our brethren’’. Dr. Lechich is the Medical Director and Sr. V.P. for Medical Affairs at the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Center. But what is the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center? A 729-bed continuing facility with a variety of special care units and two large outpatient clinics. The Center serves many people with developmental disabilities, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses. Just to mention a couple of numbers, in 2010 there were 1,803 admissions and more than 1,400 volunteers engaged residents in various activities. Located in an elegant building on the corner Fifth Avenue and 106th St. facing New York’s City back yard Central Park toward its right side top angle, the center is a sign of beauty not indifferent to its patients, in fact many can daily enjoy the view of the park from one of the several common rooms featuring large windows (Figs. 1, 2, 3). The building itself has been the site of medical practices for many years. Early on, it was called the Flower Free Surgical Hospital which then joined forces with New York Medical College. In 1938, Flower Hospital and New York Medical College merged with Fifth Avenue Hospital at the Center’s present site (Fig. 4). As Doctor Lechich puts it, the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center ‘‘was born on the ashes of the bankrupt Flower Fifth Avenue Hospitals. Archbishop Terence Cardinal Cooke acquired the property and building when the New York Medical College moved to Valhalla in Westchester.’’ The tradition to devotedly serve the community was already there, yet Dr. Lechich explains that it truly was ‘‘Terence Cardinal Cooke who willed the center’’. It is evident that his leadership had a very profound impact on the hospital, its staff and naturally all the patients as well, so much so that in 1984 the facility was renamed in memory of New York’s beloved Archbishop (Fig. 5). As Dr. Lechich exemplified by citing Terence Cardinal Cooke’s famous quote the Archbishop lived by putting his dedication to human lives in front of everything. By saying that ‘‘Life is no less precious when accompanied by sickness’’ he gave, and continues to do so through the center and people like Dr. Lechich, a value that is often lost, forgotten and even denied in today’s society. The value of this health care center is hence exactly in taking care of its patients until their last breath. Its mission is to go beyond, past their physical healing by showing a beautiful and unique attention to their humanity, their souls. This goal, since the very beginning, is a special attention for the disenfranchised, meaning not only the poor and the elderly but also the people affected by chronic illness. Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center is part of the Catholic Health Care System and strongly believes that every life is worthy of high quality medical support and rehabilitative services. The Center is also sponsored by the C. Raimondi Pre-med College, Fordham University, New York, USA