Heart-to-heart care leads John Marchetti to volunteer work

When you first meet John Marchetti, you realize he is a man of intention and purpose. In 1989 when the Berlin Wall was torn down, John was working for the Department of Energy Office of National Nuclear Security Administration. He was assigned the daunting duty of initiating and overseeing the Pollution Prevention Program for NNSA’s production plants and national labs.

“In between my DOE duties,” John said with pride, “I coached 17 years of high school football at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Md., and one year at Montgomery Junior college in Rockville, Md.”

“In the spring of 2003 I retired, and my wife Angel and I moved here from Maryland. In 2007, I had a heart stent procedure at Beebe. Thus began my love affair with Beebe Healthcare.

“After the stent, I had 36 cardiac rehabilitation sessions at Beebe. The hardworking cardiac rehab staff impressed me to a point that I wanted to do my share, and in May 2007, I became a volunteer. Also in 2007, I joined Beebe's Mended Hearts organization. Mended Hearts has become an excellent support group for people with heart disease. As a Mended Hearts member, I began taking heart patients around the hospital for their pre-admission testing.

“In 2011, I began working with Moira Quint, a cardiac surgery scheduler who was responsible for working with the various testing departments at Beebe to assure a coordinated, timely, and efficient experience for the patients and their loved ones. Moira has the extraordinary ability to juggle, coordinate and manage a very busy office, and give patients and families calm reassurance at a difficult time.

“In 2013, Don Radcliffe, a registrar, became more involved putting together the pre-op orders the cardiac surgery patients needed for their half-day of testing at Beebe. From the beginning, I noticed how friendly, efficient and kind Don was when signing in each patient. He has a way of letting the patients know that we are all there to help them through their heart procedure. A one-word description for Don is: compassion.

“In August 2017, I underwent the removal of a cancerous right femur and have been dependent upon the use of a cane. It's become very difficult to walk through the hospital. Very shortly, however, I will be handling the information booth at the hospital – at least once a week!”

Both Don and Moira were humbled by John’s generosity and his purposefulness in acknowledging the excellent care they provide to Beebe patients. “I feel honored. It’s huge,” said Don. “It’s amazing that John would think this much of me/us. He is a patient and a volunteer, and he gave us the stamp of approval.”

Moira agreed and noted that having John as a navigator eased much of the patients’ anxiety on their pre-op day. She also noted that, in John’s absence, the departments have gone back to their normal process of personally escorting cardiac surgery patients and their families to the next testing place on pre-op day to ease anxiety and relax everyone.

John sums up with this: “I made a donation to the Beebe Medical Foundation, and I am celebrating Don Radcliffe and Moira Quint because our community needs to know, with confidence, that Beebe Healthcare's staff are dedicated and caring for everyone who needs medical help - and that Beebe is a nonprofit hospital that needs all of our financial support.”

As a community-based, not-for-profit healthcare system, Beebe Healthcare depends on the generous support of the community. All gifts to Beebe are tax-deductible and are channeled through Beebe Medical Foundation.  For more information about Beebe’s Celebrate Excellent Care program and how you can support Beebe Healthcare, contact Beebe Medical Foundation at 302-644-2900 or foundation@beebehealthcare.org.