Shortly before his death from lung cancer at age 40 in September of 1995, Kenneth B. Schwartz, a loving husband and father and successful health care attorney in Boston, established an organization dedicated to strengthening the relationship between patients and caregivers in the changing health care system. Ken viewed the Center as a vehicle to advance the ideas, hopes, and concerns that he expressed in his article, ‘‘A Patient's Story,’’ published on July 16, 1995, in the Boston Globe Magazine.

As Ken wrote in his moving article, ‘‘As skilled and knowledgeable as my caregivers are, what matters most is that they have empathized with me in a way that gives me hope and makes me feel like a human being, not just an illness.’’ Everyone who read Ken's story related to it. Patients and families applauded Ken for giving voice to their fears and experiences and eloquently articulating the importance of compassion. Caregivers were reminded to stay in the moment with patients and, as Ken wrote, "that the smallest acts of kindness made the unbearable bearable.’’

Ken's experience was seminal. During his ten-month ordeal, he came to realize that what matters most when a medical issue arises — whether for ourselves or a loved one — is the ‘‘human connection’’ with our health care professionals.

In 2005, the Schwartz Center celebrated its tenth anniversary. Ken could not have imagined the breadth of support accorded the Center in its short history. The Center seeks to sustain Ken's vision of a more compassionate health care system, and has become a catalyst for change in health care, creating pioneering programs that teach caregivers to combine science with humanity and take pride in the ability to show compassion.