“[He was a] quiet gentleman who often came to our ICU because he could not catch his breath, even though he was only in his 40s,” she told a rapt audience, after accepting the Schwartz Center Compassionate Caregiver Award. “On my way home I happened to see him struggling on the sidewalk outside a local convenience store, his oxygen tank and two young children in tow. I remember thinking, ‘he is someone’s dad!.... How could I not get involved?”

Cynthia, a Nurse Practitioner at UMass Memorial Medical Center, has spent the last 35 years getting involved, not only as a superb and compassionate clinician but also as a highly effective advocate.

“She has been an angel to her patients, especially those who were progressively paralyzed by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gherig’s disease,” said dinner chair Joe Mullaney, before giving Cindy the award. “She would visit them at home when they could no longer travel to her clinic; teach overwhelmed families how to care for them; and always advocate for more services for her patients.”

Again and again Cindy has recognized when patient needs are not being met, then worked with kindred spirits to change things. For example, when she and her long time advocate, Richard Irwin, MD, realized that their pulmonary patients with ALS were having trouble managing multiple appointments at different locations, they created a virtual ALS center, offering multidisciplinary care in one location.

Cindy shared another patient story, one about “Emma,” a young woman with lung disease who was developmentally disabled and terrified of anyone in a white coat. Cindy disarmed her from the moment she met her, ignoring the conventional wisdom to not get emotionally involved.

“I took an exam glove, blew it up like a balloon, drew in eyes and a mouth and in a minute’s time I was holding a chicken, complete with a comb on top of its head. The chicken and I went into the room to welcome our new friend Emma. Together we shared her delight and her fear quickly dissipated… She visited our clinic many times thereafter and I always made sure to have a small gift and a big hug ready for her.”

As Joe Mullaney put it: “Through gestures large and small, Cindy shows how much she cares about her patients, their families and her colleagues.”