A musical tribute to Northern Westchester Hospital from a happy, healthy patient

September 11, 2009
by Susie Pender

“We were at the breakfast table and he said, ‘I think you should call an ambulance,’” recalled Bira Rabushka. “I offered to drive him, but he said, ‘I can’t even get up.’” Her 79-year-old husband, Joseph Rabushka, was raced from Goldens Bridge to Northern Westchester Hospital where emergency room doctors and nurses “surrounded him and realized right away how sick he was,” she recalled. He was promptly placed in the Intensive Care Unit under the care of Dr. Harlan Weinberg of Millwood and Dr. Alan Coffino of Chappaqua.

And so began a three-month stay at Northern Westchester Hospital for Joseph, who turned 80 while being treated there for pneumonia and ensuing complications, including kidney failure. “He was healthy, he was on the treadmill everyday, and then just like that, he was struck down,” Bira said, still surprised at how quickly this came on. 

Today Joseph is healthy again, after several additional months of residential rehab and home health care provided by A & J Homecare of Mt. Kisco. And just as important, Bira survived the crisis intact with the help of the Ken Hamilton Caregivers Center at the hospital. “The center is for people like me, who have someone in the hospital. You don’t realize that you need to talk to someone. They have Jerri Rosenfeld, a social worker, and the best hot chocolate. They have literature available, meditation rooms, group meetings for support. It is a safe haven for caregivers. I understand there are very few hospitals that have a place like this.”

Helping the hospital that helped them

With hearts full of gratitude for the incredible caring both she and her husband received at the hospital, Bira and Joseph decided to say “thank you” in a very unusual way.

Bira, who played violin with the New York City Ballet orchestra for 45 years, and Joseph, a concert violinist, called on their musical connections to assemble an “Enchanted Evening Cabaret” of musical performances to benefit Northern Westchester Hospital and honor Drs. Weinberg and Coffino and all the staff who assisted in Joseph’s recovery. “These doctors gave him the kind of care that we felt was absolutely phenomenal,” she said. 

This Saturday, September 12, a star-studded group of musicians and singers will perform at The Pulse Performing Art Studio in Bedford Hills at 8:00 p.m. The theatre is at 196 Route 117, on the bypass road at the Harris Road intersection. Tickets to this unique, one-time only event are available through a tax-deductible $75 donation to the Northern Westchester Hospital Foundation and may be obtained from Gaby Golod Greenwald at (914) 242- 8392. The concert is sponsored by The Hoelzer Steele Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, A & J Homecare, Inc., Vivian and Jerry Ehrlich and Bira and Joseph Rabushka.

Featured musicians will include jazz pianist, arranger and musical director of Broadway’s Guys and Dolls, Jeffrey Klitz; Cabaret Singer Alysa Haas; Jazz Bassist Paul Beaudry; and Drummer Tony Jefferson.  Also on the program will be the a cappella ensemble, “Sing We Enchanted,” directed by Nell Macdonald.  Internationally acclaimed violinist Kurt Nikkanen will also perform with pianist Maria Asteriadou. Mr. Nikkanen is concertmaster of the New York City Ballet Orchestra and has been a soloist and recording artist with orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

A Meet-the-Artists dessert and wine reception will follow the performance.

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