Bequests from benefactors like the Kaisers brighten future for patients
This article originally appeared in the Spring 2019 issue of Promise magazine.
Dr. Stephen Kaiser and his wife, Marty, a nurse, retired from lifelong careers in medicine. Motivated by their professional regard for Summa Health and their personal experiences as patients, they are leaving a generous estate gift to the health system.
In recent years, Mrs. Kaiser has undergone five vascular surgical procedures at Summa Health, each requiring a stay in the surgical vascular intensive care unit. Dr. Kaiser has had two cardiac procedures to correct problems with his heart rate and rhythm. Both Kaisers have enjoyed outstanding outcomes for all procedures.
“As a retired emergency medicine physician, I am not used to being on the receiving end of many of the procedures that were done to me,” said Dr. Kaiser. “But the physicians, nurses, vascular surgeons, electrophysiologists and catheterization lab staff made both of us feel very comfortable and confident going into the procedures.”
“Even though our Summa Health caregivers knew Steve was a doctor and I was a nurse, they were sensitive to our anxieties as patients, explaining everything thoroughly,” said Mrs. Kaiser, praising Drs. Drazen Petrinic, Joseph Pietrolungo and Tyler Taigen in particular.
Dr. Kaiser concurred. “They were kind, caring and empathetic all the way down the line,” he said. “We are blessed to have this high level of care in our own community.”
Married 39 years this summer, the Kaisers “met across the gurney,” said Dr. Kaiser, when they both worked in emergency medicine at what was then Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital. Dr. Kaiser left emergency medicine after 24 years to focus on occupational medicine. At the time he retired, he was medical director of Summa Center for Corporate Health and Summa’s Employee Health program.
The Kaisers’ estate plan provides for their grown children and makes Summa Health a beneficiary of their IRAs, a gift planning strategy that saves their heirs considerable taxes. Also, the Kaisers receive present-day recognition for their future gift as members of the Summa Health Charles Deering Legacy Society.
Best of all, they enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that the legacy they created will one day help Summa Health give to others the same compassionate care they delivered — and received.
For more information about establishing a lasting legacy at Summa Health, contact Barbara Boyce, senior director of gift planning, 330.375.6356 or boyceb@summahealth.org.