Baystate Health Team Supported by Bequest Gifts

Do more than you thought possible through charitable giving and financial planning. From honoring a loved one to saving taxes to generating income for life, a planned gift lets you take care of you and yours while ensuring the vital future of Baystate Health.

Do more than you thought possible through charitable giving and financial planning. From honoring a loved one to saving taxes to generating income for life, a planned gift lets you take care of you and yours while ensuring the vital future of Baystate He

April 15, 2020

Bequest Helps Baystate Frontlines Fight Covid-19

When Robert A. Shanley set up his trust decades ago, he never envisioned anything like the coronavirus pandemic.

A World War II veteran and professor, Robert simply wanted to support Baystate Medical Center (BMC) and Baystate Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice, now known as Baystate Home Health and Hospice (BHH), with a meaningful future gift.

Making an Impact Now

Though Robert passed away in 2014, his thoughtful bequest gifts joined in the fight as COVID-19 emerged as a public health emergency. Funds from Robert’s gifts, combined with gifts from other donors, helped enable Baystate Health to be responsive and innovative in these challenging days.

With key services shut down to transform the hospital into a pandemic-ready facility, Baystate’s operating budget came under stress, as did its team of healthcare professionals and staff. The strength of Baystate Health Foundation’s endowment – made stronger by Robert’s bequest gifts – helped provide critical support to build a rapid response center in ten days, purchase PPE supplies, and prepare for a surge.

Support That Matters

With his bequest gifts, Robert demonstrated his belief in Baystate Health’s dedication to patients and the community, while showing his support for the compassionate care his beloved wife Charlotte received.

Baystate Health Foundation invested his bequests in its endowment to provide long-term financial stability. Each year, a portion of the income from these endowed funds is used to support the greatest needs of BMC and BHH.

“In times of crisis,” Mark Keroack, MD, Baystate Health president & CEO notes, “we have relied on our friends to open doors, create new sources of supply, and donate resources critical for the fight. We are so thankful for Robert Shanley and others who have strengthened Baystate Health with gifts from their estates. Bequest gifts provide financial stability and are a source of long-term support that mean so much for emerging needs.”

Want to ensure the vitality of Baystate Health for the future? Learn more about making leaving a lasting legacy here.