She got the call while having lunch with her daughter and some friends. A patient she had been visiting for more than two years as a VITAS volunteer was actively dying. The social worker thought she might want to know. She dropped everything and went to the patient’s bedside.

“I said to her, ‘I’m here, it’s okay. If you want to go now, I love you and I will miss you, but it’s okay.’ And she died,” recalls Diane J. Nardiello, a volunteer for VITAS Innovative Hospice Care® of Dade-Monroe. “I had become her only family over those two years, so she was very special to me.”

It’s those special connections that Diane, a VITAS volunteer for six years, treasures most. In fact, she’s known for finding ways to connect with even the most challenging patients.

“I just look around for something that might serve as a common denominator in order to spark conversation,” explains the retired graphic sales manager. “I once had a patient who I had been warned didn’t talk much. I noticed she had a dish of chocolates on her table, so I asked her if she liked chocolate. That led to a conversation in which we discovered that we both love chocolate-covered raisins. I was able to open up a dialogue with her – even if it was just about chocolate.”

Diane started volunteering at VITAS after witnessing the company’s care of her own father – and of her, a grieving daughter. “When he died, the VITAS team was with me through the night. Just knowing they were there if I needed anything was reassuring.” She decided she wanted to give a little of that reassurance back.

When she’s volunteering, Diane tries to make each patient’s day special. She drives them to doctors’ appointments, bakes them birthday cakes or plays a round of dominoes. She says hospice volunteering helps her put her own life into perspective. She doesn’t think about the fact that her patients are terminally ill.

“They’re just people I know and visit,” she says. “We talk about what we’re going to do next week. We don’t look at a calendar, thinking that they might not be here. We just live.

“It’s gratifying and uplifting,” concludes Diane. “I get a good sense about myself.” And when the day came that Diane got another call from VITAS, it was for a reason that made her efforts pay off – she had won the Dade-Monroe program’s 2007 Volunteer of the Year award.



Mary-Jo Horton

One of the most important things in Mary-Jo Horton’s life is a well-organized, reliable calendar. “If I ever lost it I’d be in trouble,” she said with a smile. “There’s so much going on.”

That’s something of an understatement.

Horton, who has been a member of the Martin Memorial Auxiliary for 22 years, is heavily involved in community organizations such as Soroptimist International, Daughters of the American Revolution and Rotary Club.

But much of her time is also devoted to Martin Memorial. Horton serves as a member of the guest relations team, which greets visitors as they come into the Martin Memorial Medical Center and guides patients or visitors where they need to go. She works behind the front desk of the Medical Center as well, answering phone calls and providing information to visitors. Horton also serves as secretary of the Martin Memorial Board of Directors – a body she chaired from 1993-95.

“I haven’t learned how to say no very well,” she said. “I keep being asked to do things. I have the time, I have the interest. And this is a wonderful community. There are many different ways of contributing to it.”

And Horton has certainly contributed on many different levels. A native of Florida, Horton has been an influential leader her entire career. In the 1970s, she became the first female vice president of Burdines Department Stores. She also served on the Florida Hospital Association’s board of directors.

Through the years, much has changed at Martin Memorial. What began as one hospital in a tiny town has grown to a multi-faceted health system that serves two growing counties. Through it all, Mary-Jo Horton has been involved with that progress.

“There is always change going on and that’s part of the challenge,” she said. “I love to see things change, for people to be challenged and to think outside the box. It keeps you young.”

Joan Lemke

Joan Lemke is not the retiring type.

Not that she hasn’t tried it before. After 25 years in the banking industry she left that line of work only to take on volunteer duties. After working at the American Heart Association for years, she joined the Martin Memorial Auxiliary in 1995 and has been there ever since.

For the past two years, Lemke has served as the Auxiliary president, a job she relinquished April 1. But true to form, she won’t be going far – Lemke is staying on as recording secretary for the health system’s volunteer organization.

“I don’t think I could exist without volunteering,” she said. “I tell my family I’m going to retire and they laugh. They tell me I’ll never do it.”

Just keeping up with her family could be challenging enough for some people. She and her husband, Bill – who also volunteers at Martin Memorial – have 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, most of who still live in the area.

But Lemke’s heart is in volunteering. After volunteering at Martin Memorial’s Volunteers in Medicine Clinic and in pastoral services, Lemke was asked to interview for the Auxiliary’s vice president position. However, after the interview they called her back and said they wanted to offer her the president-elect position.

It’s easy to see why. She is cheerful and gregarious, whether at the annual holiday tree lighting or an Auxiliary meeting, a public relations event or just walking around the halls of the hospital.

“I love it. It’s been one of the highlights of my life,” she said. “I love all the volunteers and I love this hospital. I am so impressed with the doctors, the nurses and the administrators. We’re very blessed.”

Eva Kemp

Spin a globe, point at a random spot and there’s a good chance Eva Kemp likely has been there.

A native of England, her husband, Philip, had a job that sent them to places like Sri Lanka, Australia, and finally the United States. She’s also traveled to South Africa and India, wearing out passports along the way.

Through the years and her travels, Kemp has always been active in volunteer work – including hospitals. Though she did volunteer at hospitals in England and in Australia, she feels hospital auxiliaries seem to be “uniquely American.”

“There is no equivalent organization in England,” Kemp said. “My friends are amazed when I explain what we do and the number of hours we work. I tell them that it is a symbiotic relationship, one that gives great satisfaction and pleasure to us, along with an enormous sense of worth.”

Kemp joined the Martin Memorial Auxiliary in 2003, working in the maternal-child department.

“I particularly love kids,” said Kemp, a mother of three and grandmother of eight. “I truly have a soft spot for kids.”

After transferring departments in 2005, she accepted a new role in 2006 that came with a great deal of responsibility – president-elect of the Auxiliary. On April 1, 2008 she took over as president.

“I simply can’t stay at home. I don’t play golf and I wanted to do something, to go out and meet people,” Kemp said. “I’ve learned an awful lot (as president-elect) and I’m looking forward to this new role.”



The board of directors of Palm Healthcare Foundation has approved a $1 million grant to support the capital campaign for the new regional hospital in the Glades, Palm Beach County’s only public hospital. The grant was awarded to Glades Healthcare Foundation who is leading the fund raising campaign for the $73 million project.

(l-r) John Lacy, Treasurer of Palm Healthcare Board of Trustees and Vice-Chairman Glades Healthcare Foundation; David Zechman, CEO of Glades General Hospital; Pat Lord, Executive Director of Glades Healthcare Foundation; Suzette Wexner, President of Palm Healthcare Foundation; David Goodlett, Chair of the Glades Healthcare Foundation Board; and Bob Jaffe, Chair of the Palm Healthcare Foundation Board of Trustees.

“We believe this is one of most important capital campaign projects in Palm Beach County today,” said Bob Jaffe, Palm Healthcare Foundation board chair. “As we have focused on increasing healthcare access for the underserved across Palm Beach County, we recognized that there is no area in our community that is more greatly in need than the Glades region where one-third of residents are living below the Federal Poverty Level. We’ve awarded this grant to help transform healthcare for over 50,000 people served by the hospital because we believe a healthy community—from east to west—benefits us all.”

The grant will be used to support the capital costs for the Palm Healthcare Center for Better Nutrition. This state-of-the-art center will allow the hospital to provide high nutritional value meals to aid patients in their recovery. The center will also serve as a community destination for healthy eating and nutrition education—a critical need in the Glades region where the population experiences high rates of diabetes and cardiopulmonary disorders.

Construction of the new 70-bed, technologically-advanced hospital to replace Glades General began in November 2007 and is well underway with an anticipated opening in early 2010.



It has been widely reported that people with mental illness, who come from more traditional cultures have a better outcome than Anglo American patients, but up until now no one knew why. A new study points to levels of hostility and criticism in different cultures, as a determining factor in the prognosis of patients suffering from mental illness, and proposes culturally sensitive therapies to improve their prognosis.

Starting in the 1970s the World Health Organization did a series of studies in different countries around the world and found – counter intuitively – that while the prevalence of the disease was pretty stable worldwide, the course was much more benign in traditional cultures, said Amy Weisman de Mamani, professor at the University of Miami Psychology Department and the study’s principal investigator.

“Since family attitude plays an important role in patient outcome, we looked at what happens within the families in these cultures that may provide a more adaptive course for the illness” Weisman de Mamani said. “While all cultures value family, what is seen as most important in different societies comes thru in the way that family members react towards a relative with mental illness.”

According to the study, criticism and hostility towards a mentally ill relative is significantly higher among Anglo American families, than among Latinos and Asians and more detrimental than for African Americans in the United States.

Family members of a person with mental illness become impatient, when an ill relative fails to live up to culturally desired behaviors and values, the study says. When this occurs, there is a breakdown in communication between family and patient, and the harsh and disapproving attitudes that emerge makes the ill person more vulnerable to the disease.

Since Anglo American cultural values emphasize independence and responsibility, they are much more likely to be critical about a relative not being able to hold a job, or act independently, the study says.

“Among Anglos in the United States, there is this notion that with hard work you can overcome anything. In the context of mental illness, this attitude can lead to more criticism of the individual that, because of the illness, does not act in an independent and productive manner” Weisman de Mamani said.

On the other hand, Latino and Asian families emphasize interdependence and family connectedness. Thus criticism arises less frequently, usually, when family unity and harmony is disrupted.

“We found that Latinos are more likely to criticize patients for not taking a shower, not interacting, or not showing their emotions,” Weisman de Mamani said. “This sense of interconnectedness, may encourage a more supportive environment.”

Interestingly, criticism of the mentally ill among African American families is as frequent as in the Anglo community however, it is not as harmful. What people in other cultural groups may consider criticism may not be perceived as such by African Americans, said Jennifer A. Kymalainen, co-author and post doctoral fellow at the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Medical Center, Bedford Massachusetts.

“Black patients do not appear to take criticism from family members as personally,” Kymalainen said “Although communication tends to break down around some of the same issues as other groups, blacks may interpret the criticism as a sign of family concern,”

Weismann de Mamani explained that spiritual values also play a role, so that families that have a belief system to fall back on helps them make sense of the illness in a way that helps them bear the adversity more easily and helps both the patient and the families cope, and they may have more of a buffer and support system in place at church, for example.

The study concludes that understanding cultural patterns for patients with Schizophrenia can predict relapse and stabilization of the affected individual, and suggest that clinicians and researches focus family interventions on specific issues related to the patients’ cultural norms to greatly improve the patients’ outcome.



The West Palm Beach VA Medical Center is proud of our record of accomplishment for 2008, prouder still of the approximately 2,000 employees of the West Palm Beach VA who daily fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for veterans and their families, and proudest to have had the opportunity to serve men and women whose dedicated service to our nation in all its wars has enabled generations of Americans to live their lives in freedom. Major accomplishments of the Medical Center for this year include:

  • Helping make a reality the first Internal Medical Residency Program in Palm Beach County.
  • Ranking 14 among 170 VA Medical Centers in the country in performance (access, quality, patient satisfaction).
  • Medical Center Director being selected as the recipient of the 2008 Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive. Less than 5% of Senior Executive Service federal employees receive this award.
  • Exceeding revenue collection goal for FY 2008.
  • Scoring well on Office of General Inspector, Environmental Care and System-wide Ongoing Review Strategy (SOAR) reviews.
  • Expansion of Pain Management, Mental Health, Home Based Primary Care and Mental Health Intensive Case Management programs and securing construction funding for a Cancer Center for 2010 and a Mental Health Outpatient Clinic & Administrative building.
  • Improving Employee Satisfaction scores in every category.
  • Hosting VA Secretary Dr. James B. Peake’s visit to West Palm Beach. Secretary Peake was very complimentary about the WPB VA Medical Center’s work.
  • Providing the bulk of logistical support for the South Florida National Cemetery’s dedication ceremony.
  • Being designated as one of the BEST Workplaces for Commuters by the National Center for Transit Research at the University of South Florida for meeting the National Standard of Excellence for outstanding commuter benefits.