Estate-Plan Gifts Ensure Future Compassionate End-of-Life Care

Charles Vialotti, MD, earned his undergraduate degree at Columbia College and his medical degree at New York Medical College. He completed an internship in internal medicine at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City and a residency in radiation oncology at NYU Medical Center. As a radiation oncologist for nearly 50 years, he was instrumental in the building and establishment of Holy Name Medical Center’s Patricia Lynch Cancer Center.

Throughout his medical career, Dr. Vialotti has been dedicated to bringing “life with dignity” to patients who can no longer benefit from medical intervention. He was influential in the creation of one of the first hospice programs in northern New Jersey and now serves as the resident Medical Director at Villa Marie Claire Residential Hospice.

In gratitude for all the joy and fulfillment his experiences at the Villa have provided, Dr. Vialotti has joined with many other generous family members, friends, and community supporters in making an estate-plan gift to help ensure the future of the Villa. Dr. Vialotti has made his future gift in honor of Michael Maron, President and CEO of Holy Name Medical Center.

“As a culture, we often suppress the realities regarding properly caring for end-of-life issues,” he says. “We find most are ill-prepared to deal with the emotional, physical, and spiritual dynamics involved with planning for that stage of life. Over the years, the Villa families became my family. My gift to the Villa is the least I can do for a community that brings so much dignity, peace, and comfort to many.”

Dr. Vialotti lives in a suite at Villa Marie Claire so that he is always available to offer a gentle hand and caring heart to the patients and their families in their times of need. He engages at every level and can be found planting flowers or scooping ice cream in the kitchen to bring to a patient with a craving. “We operate believing each human being is entitled to the same dignity and compassion facing the end of their lives as they were provided during their productive years,” he says. “There is no other facility I have encountered that provides the degree of nurturing and compassion that embraces the patient and family in a cocoon fashion, ultimately helping the family recover from their loss.”

Many grateful families include the Villa in their wills to help ensure that the wonderful care and sup-port given to their family members will be available for others. These families develop deep connections and recognize the Villa as not where their loved one passed on but the last place their loved one lived. “My hope is that the Villa will be able to continue providing compassionate end-of-life care for their patients and enhance counseling programs for the families,” Dr. Vialotti says.

During his career Dr. Vialotti's vast knowledge of palliative and hospice care has remained instrumental in guiding patients and their families. He has moved the issue of end-of-life care from the theoretical to the real world with the Villa’s model of care that reflects his vision for hospice care: “People at their transitional phase of life should be offered comfort, freedom from fear, and life with dignity.”