Retired Schuyler Hospital Nurse Donates $10k

Retired Registered Nurse, Marie Decker, who worked for Schuyler Hospital for 41 years before retiring in 2007, always planned to make a donation to the organization that was her second home.She planned to make a legacy gift upon her passing, asking only that a modest plaque be placed in her memory at the hospital where she dedicated so much of her life. But when her husband, Wayne, died unexpectedly, her urge to give back became more urgent.“I decided I would give now, so I’d have time to see and appreciate whatever project the money went to,” Decker said during an interview conducted as she volunteered one afternoon at the Hospital’s gift shop. “Then when I heard that the Hospital was moving forward with relocating the Intensive Care Unit, a light went on.”Decker was the Hospital’s first Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurse when a unit was established at the Hospital’s former location – now The Falls Home – in Montour Falls. Later, when the Hospital moved to a breathtaking site overlooking Seneca Lake, Decker became ICU Supervisor. This summer, the NYS Department of Health approved a Certificate of Need to relocate the Hospital’s ICU to a different wing.“I knew this was where my money had to go, in honor of my husband,” Decker said. Decker presented a check for $10 thousand to the Schuyler Health Foundation, earmarked for the ICU project.“This hospital is all I have now,” Decker said, smiling. “These people are my family.”For more information, contact the Schuyler Health Foundation at (607) 535-8879 or go to www.schuylerhospital.org