For more than 50 years, Joe Malouf has received medical care at Massachusetts General Hospital. His doctors include the most visionary leaders in their fields.
While he depends on their clinical expertise, Joe deeply values their compassion and ability to connect on a personal level. These personal connections have inspired Joe to support Mass General, and his physicians, through charitable giving. “These doctors don’t look at you simply as a patient, they look at you also as a friend,” he says.
Among Joe’s trusted caregivers through the years are: retired gastroenterologist Stephen Goldfinger, MD; Marc Semigran, MD, former director of the Mass General Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Program; Kenneth Rosenfield, MD, section head of Vascular Medicine and Intervention; gastroenterologist Daniel Chung, MD; primary care doctor Kerri McGrath, MD; Jeremy Abramson, MD, director of the lymphoma program; and psychiatrist Kelly Irwin, MD.
The charitable support during and after his lifetime is “my way to give back for the many years they’ve given me,” Joe says. “I wouldn’t be here now if not for each of my doctors.”
A Feeling You Belong
When appropriate, Joe makes it a point to get on a first-name basis with his caregivers. “It brings a certain closeness and trust,” he says. “There’s a feeling you belong.”
Joe also shows his gratitude and affinity for his doctors through his charitable giving. His contributions include a charitable gift annuity, where he can support the hospital while also receiving a fixed income for the rest of his life. Joe doesn’t count heavily on the quarterly income payments, but he likes that this gift will maintain his legacy.
Meanwhile, Joe’s outright gifts each year provide immediate support to his doctors’ highest-priority programs. His philanthropy makes a real difference in their clinical, research and training endeavors.
The charitable support during and after his lifetime is “my way to give back for the many years they’ve given me,” Joe says. “I wouldn’t be here now if not for each of my doctors.”
A Team of Compassionate Experts
The trajectory of Joe’s clinical relationships at Mass General started in the 1970s with a routine visit to Dr. Goldfinger for acid indigestion. For decades, the physician was Joe’s most trusted caregiver, and he remains a close friend.
Over time, Dr. Goldfinger also helped expand Joe’s care team at Mass General. He recruited cardiologist Dr. Semigran. Likewise, when shortness of breath and pain led to Joe’s second angiogram, Dr. Semigran knew it was time to call in his associate to perform a balloon stent on Joe’s left anterior descending artery. The interventional cardiologist who performed the stent procedure became Joe’s friend for life.
Caring Inspires Charitable Giving
Today, it is Dr. Rosenfield who helps guide Joe’s care. They developed a tight bond right away, Joe says, adding that Dr. Rosenfield has also saved the lives of people very dear to him. For these reasons, Joe makes gifts to Dr. Rosenfield’s research in the cardiac catheterization laboratory.
The Mass General research and community health programs that Joe supports are all inspired by his beloved physicians.
Dr. Irwin and her team are a vital resource for older adults managing the stresses of business and health, Joe says. “She’s helped me tremendously.” His gifts to the Collaborative Care and Community Engagement, which promotes equity in cancer care for patients affected by mental illness, are one way he expresses his appreciation.
Meanwhile, Dr. Chung has given Joe medical care and guidance for nearly 20 years. “I wouldn’t want to have another GI doctor anywhere,” he says. Joe values Dr. Chung’s quiet confidence, kindness and personal attention. He honors it with charitable giving to the department.
To Joe, Dr. Chung is another caregiver who’s become a meaningful figure in his life. For the decades of excellent medical care, and the deep personal relationships that grew from it, Joe is moved to give back to Mass General.
For the Mass General caregivers important to your life, there is a giving plan for you. Contact the Office of Planned Giving at (617) 643-2220 or mghdevpg@partners.org.
