Providing care and comfort far from home

Receiving the gift of life through transplant is an extraordinary journey that can put a huge financial burden on both patients and their support person, who is required to be with them 24-7 for several weeks. Gifts to the Mike Armbrust Fund for Transplant Patients and Families provided more than $100,000 for hotel stays and other expenses not covered by insurance when they were needed the most. 

Most patients (74%) and their support person travel more than 45 minutes to our world-class transplant center for care, and having a place nearby to call home during recovery is essential. Patients can be in the hospital anywhere from six to 35 days depending on the organ transplanted. Kidney recipients experiencing delayed graft function may need to stay in a nearby hotel for an additional one to four weeks, while lung and heart transplant recipients may have more complications requiring longer inpatient stays. Support from the patient and family fund provided more than 800 nights at local hotels.

No matter where a patient’s hometown is, insurance coverage varies, medications can be very expensive and extended time off work can make it difficult for both the patient and their support person to pay for rent or a mortgage. Because of gifts to the patient and family fund, they didn’t have to worry.

“In the context of everything our transplant patients go through, gifts to support patient assistance are so critical to relieving just a little bit of stress,” shared Megan Fecht, LCSW, CCTSW, transplant social worker supervisor. “Your gift not only helped our patients focus on their healing, but it also allowed caregivers to focus on their loved one.”