Edmond J. Safra Family Lodge Celebrates Five Years of Serving Patient Families

Episode # 40
Uploaded: June 8, 2010
Running Time: 5:36

SCHMALFELDT: From the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, this is CLINICAL CENTER RADIO. The Edmond J. Safra Family Lodge on the NIH Campus is celebrating its 5th anniversary. Since opening in 2005, the Lodge has been a temporary "home-away-from-home" for more than 50,000 family caregivers. To get a feel for what a stay at the Family Lodge is like, you need only to hear from some of the folks who have stayed there.

Mark Bardin of Oklahoma thought of his lodge visit in practical terms.

BARDIN: Thanks to them, I never had to rent a room or stay with any in-laws.

SCHMALFELDT: Mark and his wife, Marie, were guests of the NIH Clinical Center and the Family Lodge from January through April 2008 as she participated in an NCI protocol. Mark shared some of his memories about the friendliness of the Safra staff.

BARDIN: They were very nice. I made friends with the manager, a real nice lady and we talked quite a bit. I got to know quite a few of the people who work there pretty well.

SCHMALFELDT: He talked about some of the other creature comforts available at the Family Lodge.

BARDIN: It was nice having the refrigerator and freezer to put the food in, and it was really good that I could talk to the other people who were staying there who were pretty much in the same boat as me. I met some pretty interesting people. There was some there from Canada and South America, and even a family from Oklahoma was there. The cappuccino machine in the morning, I remember that, taking a hot cup of cappuccino with me on my walk to the hospital every morning.

SCHMALFELDT: Mark said his wife, Marie, is currently doing very well, saying she really started showing improvement in April 2008, about the same time as the flower garden at the Family Lodge began to bloom. It seems there are as many stories about the Family Lodge as there have been visitors.

Even though her husband did not prevail in his struggle with melanoma, Gail Groft of Pennsylvania said she has warm memories of her stay.

GROFT: "I was absolutely blown away by how elegant it was and how friendly the staff were to the family members. I was expecting something along the lines of a rundown hotel with bunk beds. It made our visit there just so much more enjoyable, especially on the one or two occasions when my husband was well enough to where he could come and spend the night with me."

SCHMALFELDT: Gail's husband, Bob, was a participant in an NCI protocol on melanoma. Gail stayed at the Family Lodge for a few weeks in June, July and September 2009, at which time Bob's bloodwork disqualified him from further participation in the study. He passed away in October. Yet, Gail remains positive about the NIH and the care she and her husband received, both in the Clinical Center and the Family Lodge.

GROFT: How much it means to know that the staff cares about, not only your family member, but they actually care about the entire family.

SCHMALFELDT: Mark Kadir of California has been taking part in an NIDDK protocol for the past 5-years and then some. He also had very nice things to say about the Family Lodge, including his most recent visit in May.

KADIR: As usual, I come in and meet beautiful people over there, register for the room. They give me all the information that I need, such as my guest pass and my key to the room. I enjoyed my stay in the room, but not only that, the whole environment.

SCHMALFELDT: Mark talked about one instance when he left a bottle of a special aftershave for sensitive skin behind when he left the lodge. When he returned the next time, they had the bottle for him. They saved it in the Lodge safe!

KADIR: I can't imagine anyone staying there and experiencing anything different, because they are not just special to me, they are special to everyone. It is a beautiful experience.

SCHMALFELDT: The Edmond J. Safra Family Lodge has been made possible through a remarkable public-private partnership. The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, a private non-profit organization, raised the funds to enable the facility's construction. Mrs. Lily Safra, along with the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation, donated the principal private funding for the lodge's construction. Operations are funded directly by the NIH Clinical Center, but the foundation has a commitment to enhancing the lives of the lodge residents during their stay. If you would like to know more about the Edmond J. Safra Lodge or the NIH Clinical Center, the NIH Clinical Center, including news about the medical research going on here every day, log on to http://clinicalcenter.nih.gov. For information on the Foundation for NIH, go to http://fnih.org [disclaimer]. From America's Clinical Research Hospital, this has been CLINICAL CENTER RADIO. In Bethesda, Maryland, I'm Bill Schmalfeldt at the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

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