KINGSTON, N.Y. (December 22, 2016) – Inspired by the joy he felt receiving a train set as a patient at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital, a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth), a 16-year-old boy with two congenital disorders and a crippled immune system gave gifts this afternoon to more than 100 patients at HealthAlliance Hospital: Broadway Campus and HealthAlliance Hospital: Mary's Avenue Campus, also members of WMCHealth.
Jordan Corvin of Saugerties has been handing out gifts at the HealthAlliance hospitals for 10 years with the help of his family. Today he was accompanied by his mother, April.
"I like to see a smile on people's faces at a time when they might be hurt or in pain," said Jordan.
Jordan's gift bags included handmade bookmarks, a deck of cards, an ornament and more. Newborns in the hospital received handmade baby hats.
The heartfelt giving is part of what Jordan calls "Jordan's Wish." With the help of donations, volunteers and his family, Jordan collects and packages some 300 gifts every year for distribution at local hospitals.
"I want to keep doing this in the future and hope to be able to visit more hospitals next year," said Jordan.
The idea for Jordan's Wish came when Jordan was 6, a year after someone gave him a model electric train set around Christmastime while he was hospitalized at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital. The train set lifted his spirits immensely. The next year, he decided to give gifts to others and, with his family's help, delivered presents to Maria Fareri Children's Hospital patients. He now annually gives gifts through Jordan's Wish to hospital patients in Ulster, Dutchess, Columbia and Delaware counties.
Jordan's two congenital disorders are Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a weakness in his connective tissue, primarily the skin, joints and blood-vessel walls, and familial Mediterranean fever, which causes recurrent fevers and painful inflammation of the abdomen, lungs and joints. Jordan also has critically low levels of Immunoglobulin M, a basic antibody, so his body cannot fight infections without antibiotics, which Jordan takes twice a day, every day.
"Jordan's kindness and generosity is inspiring," said David Scarpino, President and CEO of HealthAlliance. "We look forward to having Jordan and his family back year after year to put a smile on the faces of those in the hospital during the holidays."
About HealthAlliance, a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network
HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley operates a 315-hospital bed healthcare system comprising HealthAlliance Hospital: Mary's Avenue Campus and HealthAlliance Hospital: Broadway Campus in Kingston, New York, and Margaretville Hospital in Margaretville, New York. It also operates Mountainside Residential Care Center, an 82-bed facility in Margaretville. As Ulster County's largest employer, HealthAlliance is committed to attracting the best-qualified medical and support staff; providing outstanding, responsive, coordinated, compassionate patient- and family-centered care; excelling in clinical outcomes and patient experiences; and ensuring patient rights, privacy and respect are honored at all times, while improving the overall health and well-being of the diverse communities it serves. For more information about how HealthAlliance is delivering the promise of medicine, visit hahv.org or follow Facebook.com/HealthAllianceHV or Twitter.com/HAllianceHudVal.
About Westchester Medical Center Health Network
The Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) is a 1,700-bed healthcare system headquartered in Valhalla, New York, with 10 hospitals on eight campuses spanning 6,200 square miles of the Hudson Valley. WMCHealth employs more than 12,000 people and has nearly 3,000 attending physicians. From Level 1, Level 2 and Pediatric Trauma Centers, the region's only acute care children's hospital, an academic medical center, several community hospitals, dozens of specialized institutes and centers, skilled nursing, assisted living facilities, homecare services and one of the largest mental health systems in New York State, today WMCHealth is the pre-eminent provider of integrated healthcare in the Hudson Valley. For more information about WMCHealth, visit WMCHealth.org.
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