Compassionate and Expert Care Inspires a Gift to Help Others

Betsy Schaper has been a self-described cheerleader for Greenwich Hospital since 2003, when her elderly father, Armin, underwent a 12-hour spinal fusion surgery with neurosurgeon Amory Fiore, MD. Beyond their relief that the operation was a success, what really caught the attention of Betsy and her brother, Doug, was the surgeon’s exceptional communication skills and warm bedside manner. Their relationship with Dr. Fiore continues to this day.

“I’ve always thought that the doctor is the bridge between a patient and the hospital and is really what builds the bond between the two,” reflects Schaper. “For our family, our feelings for Greenwich Hospital developed very strongly because of Dr. Fiore and what he was able to do for our father, and for both of us, as we both eventually needed his surgical skills.”

Residents of Harrison, New York, for nearly 60 years, Betsy’s parents died within one year of each other. Channeling their grief into something positive, Betsy and Doug established the Ethel and Armin Schaper Charitable Foundation. They directed their first gift, in 2008, to Greenwich Hospital: The Medical/Surgical Intensive Care Unit bears their parents’ names and honors their beloved surgeon.

More recently, Betsy decided to add Greenwich Hospital to her estate plan—designating her eventual bequest toward the ICU. “I’ve always supported Greenwich Hospital so I could do my part helping others benefit from the excellent doctors at our local hospital and the medical advances they bring to us as patients.”