Eric Blum - four photos

As we prepare to bury a time capsule in/under the new Blum Center at Frost Valley, I quickly went through some of my old photos of Eric. Here are four of them. One of these I will send to camp now to be among those put into the time capsule. Fifty years from now when our successors at Frost Valley open it up, they will know exactly who these people are. Why? Because Blum and his colleagues did legendary work for kids, unforgettable. For a larger view of any of these photos, just click on the image.

dialysis in the 80s

Some photos taken by Lew Reisman around 1986. Lew is a pediatric nephrologist. He became affiliated with our dialysis unit in the early 80s and continued helping us for many years. Recently (see earlier entries) he visited FV to help us honor Ira Greifer.

He lent me some photos and here is a selection:

Matt Stephenson, son of the dialysis unit coordinator Tamara Stephenson.

Tamara Stephenson at left, with Eva Gottscho, and (at right) a member of Eva's board.

Photo taken in recent years: Ira Greifer, left, with Lew Reisman.

Eric Blum in his first summer - 1986.

dialysis program

Judy Eichinger (Eva Gottscho's daughter) and husband Bob visited again today, and chose wisely. Beautiful day, lots going on (Olympics) and they had an opportunity to meet for an hour with Dr. Rick Kaskel, who of course is on FV's Board of Trustees and who is our lead contact at Montefiore Hospital, which hosts our dialysis/kidney unit. The meeting is important. The triangular relationship among Frost Valley and Montefiore and the Gottscho Kidney Foundation needs to work very well if we want to continue being able to sponsor this remarkable program offering summer camp experiences to children with renal disease. We're in a time of transition: Eva of course passed away a few years ago; Maureen, who led/coordinated the project from the nursing standpoint here at camp for many summers, now feels it's time to transition out of that lead role; Frost Valley people feel we need someone designated by FV to coordinate it. Everyone's in agreement so the future of this program, begun in 1975, is bright. Above you see Judy, at lunch, meeting with the campers who are here this session in connection with the Gottscho kidney unit.

Gottscho Board members visit

Today Judy Eichinger (daughter of Eva Gottscho) and members of the Gottscho Foundation Board visited us and met with many of the kids affiliated with the dialysis unit - from various villages. Above are some photos I took during our lunch with the Gottscho Board.

our summer specialty programs

Click on the image for a larger view.

more about dialysis

Many Frost Valley friends are aware of our innovative program enabling children with renal disease to attend camp--a mainstreaming program we began in 1975 in partnership with the Gottscho Kidney Foundation of NJ and the Albert Einstein Medical College Hospital in the Bronx (the partnership there has since shifted to Montefiore Hospital). But many of us don't know much about pediatric kidney failure or about dialysis (the first treatment for those afflicted with the disease). Here, below, is a recent story about dialysis.

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Dialysis: An Experiment In Universal Health Care
November 9, 2010
National Public Radio
by Robin Fields

Every year, more than 100,000 Americans start dialysis treatment, a form of chronic care given to people with failing kidneys. And for many, the cost is completely free. Since 1972, when Congress granted comprehensive coverage under Medicare to any patient diagnosed with kidney failure, both dialysis and kidney transplants have been covered for all renal patients.

But a new joint investigation between The Atlantic and ProPublica found many problems with dialysis in the U.S.: The cost of treatment is among the world's highest, while the U.S. mortality rate for dialysis patients is one of the world's worst. One in four patients will die within 12 months of starting treatment.

Investigative reporter Robin Fields, who spent the past year reviewing thousands of documents and interviewing more than 100 patients, doctors, policymakers and experts, found systematic failures in the way dialysis centers are set up in the United States.

"At clinics from coast to coast, patients commonly receive treatment in settings that are unsanitary and prone to perilous lapses in care," she writes in a piece that will be published in the December issue of The Atlantic. "Regulators have few tools and little will to enforce quality standards. Industry consolidation has left patients with fewer choices of provider. [And] the government withholds critical data about clinics' performance from patients, the very people who need it most."

A Growing Industry

The kidney dialysis industry, Fields tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross, is now "hugely larger than anyone could have imagined."

"There are far more patients. There are far more complicated patients. And the expense of this is wildly beyond the expectations of the architects of the program," she says.

The program that initially cost the taxpayers $135 million a year is now a multibillion-dollar industry. The two chains that dominate the dialysis industry, DaVita and Fresenius, make about $2 billion combined in operating costs per year, she explains. And the industry is expected to grow: Every year, the pool of patients increases by 3 percent.

"When the program started, the original estimates thought there could be perhaps 35,000 patients," she says. "Then as that became clear that that wasn't going to be true, they thought maybe 50,000 patients -- then 90,000. But what's really happened is the patient community has continued to grow because of conditions like diabetes and obesity becoming so much more common in the larger health care system."

Six percent of all Medicare money, Fields writes, goes toward treating people with kidney failure. But Medicare doesn't set staffing ratios for dialysis clinics. Fields explains that clinics are required to have a medically licensed physician, but the physician is not always present for all dialysis treatments. Some nurses and licensed technicians juggle far more patients than what standards recommend. And some clinics turn over three to four shifts of patients a day.

"What we found in examining inspection reports as broadly and deeply as we could is that many of the same patterns cropped up time and time again: unsafe and unsanitary conditions; prescription and medical errors; issues in infection control; issues that dealt with the amount of staffing, the training of staff and the supervision of staff," Fields says. "I should emphasize, this isn't all clinics. Some clinics do a great job. But what we found, not only looking at inspections but at interviewing people broadly, was that some clinics are operating in a way that seems to ratchet up risks and that reflected some of the frustrations voiced by patients and doctors and other practitioners alike about one-size-fits-all care that didn't really give patients the best of the medicine that's available or the best of the treatment options available."

Transitioning To Private Care

Today more than 80 percent of the 5,000 dialysis centers operating in the United States are private, a major change from the mainly hospital-based care patients received in the 1970s and 1980s. Fields says the transition happened because the payment policies for dialysis treatment helped create financial incentives that allowed corporations to enter the market.

"The payment policies at the beginning were said to be quite generous and to draw providers in to create the desperately needed access that the [dialysis] program was based on," she says. "And the people who float in to create that access were mostly for-profit providers. ... Ultimately, as the payment policies evolved to somewhat suppress the price of each treatment, what you found happening was that that sort of favored providers who had economies of scale and could have purchasing power that lowered their cost. And the product of that has been a vast changeover in who provides the care."

She says that some reforms are in the works to improve patient care, including Medicare's plan to offer a set payment for patients' combined treatments and drugs, instead of paying for each separately. The combined payment, says Fields, removes the incentive for clinics to overuse drugs to generate profits.

"I think that mostly people in the dialysis world view these things as incremental improvements and not the things that could vault us forward in a major way," she says. "And they're hoping for further changes that lead to ... different definitions of quality and performance."

Robin Fields is a senior editor at ProPublica. She has received a National Journalism Award for her investigative reporting, as well as the Associated Press Managing Editors Public Service Award. [Copyright 2010 National Public Radio]

Gottscho's new web site

We're pleased that the Ruth Carole Gottscho Kidney Foundation now has a new web site. Click here and have a long look. And here is contact info:

The Ruth Gottscho Kidney Foundation
515 Warwick Avenue
Teaneck, NJ 07666
201-833-8291
jge@gottschokidney.org

Judy welcomes your reminiscences and your feedback on the site!

dialysis memory (3)

Phyllis Gherardi Caputo:

I remember feeling good about the dialysis program in general, and how helpful and caring the campers were to kids less fortunate than themselves. I also was very emotional when we went to the dedication of the wellness center and heard Eva Gottscho speak. What an incredible woman, and to see she did was responsible for from a tragedy in her life was inspiring.

dialysis memory (2)

And here's Harry McCormack:

I always thought that dialysis campers were some of the happiest campers in general and their attitude towards camp, life and their illness was always amazing.

The first memory I thought of was of a dialysis camper called Justin (18 years old) who turned up two days late due to him being ill. He was clearly very fragile but so excited to be at Frost Valley. He joined up with the rest of Pac during our evening activity, Iron Chef, and you could tell he was nervous and shy. I asked him where he was from and he said Verona, New Jersey. On my last holdover weekend I had gone to an amazing restaurant called Original House of Pancakes - OHOP (not IHOP!!) so I asked him about it and his face lit up and he started telling me all about it. Two other Pac campers had overheard this and joined in all singing OHOP's praises. Before I even had a chance to put Justin in one of the groups, these two Pac campers asked him to join up with their group. It wasn't much but suddenly Justin's whole demeanour changed and he just went and started chopping some carrots and chatting to the guys in his group. It was great that something so simple as mutual love for pancakes could make someone feel at home so easily.

I also always loved doing the night meds run. Windsong were always lazy and took the golf cart so we would hide on the side of the road and jump out at the opportune moment generating some very loud screams which was always hilarious. Don't think I'll ever get old enough where I don't find that funny.

dialysis/renal disease program - stories (1)

I'm gathering stories from the years of experiences we've had since the advent of our dialysis unit/renal disease program back in 1975. Dave Bieler was the first to respond and here's what he wants to say:

As gosh knows how many FVers know, Eric is a model of fortitude and determination. I was always kind of stunned by how much energy and enthusiasm he was able generate, seemingly at will, despite being tethered to a machine for four hours every other day having his blood cleaned out for him...however, it was one night, in 1986, on an absolute nightmare of an overnight with Forest/Susky kids, that he completely and totally outdid himself. We were caught in a storm, the kids were miserable, and we had to make a call on what to do -- spend the night out in the storm, struggling to keep both ourselves and the kids dry and safe, or attempt to hike through the rain (and over a rope bridge) back to camp. The storm just kept getting worse, the kids were scared, cold, and tired -- so we made the call to go back.

Myself, I was feeling extremely miserable at this point -- which was only compounded by the driving rain. And well, after he and I and our Susky counselor compatriots guided all the kids over the rope bridge through the dark by flashlight, I basically collapsed. Eric saw me, leapfrogged across the river, and essentially hauled me/propped me up for the walk back to camp. After a few nights in the nurse's office, I was back in business, but were it not for Eric -- who knows how things would've turned out? He was absolutely, positively, indubitably - awesome.

1999/2000 video

The Ruth Carole Gottscho Kidney Foundation made a video about Frost Valley and our dialysis program - back in around 1999 or 2000. Here is your link to the video. Enjoy.

your reflections and memories needed

Here is a letter to all FV alumni from Eva Gottscho's daughter Judy:

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Dear Frost Valley Alumni:

This coming summer the Ruth Gottscho Dialysis Center at Frost Valley will celebrate a special anniversary. It was 35 years ago that the program for kidney campers was established. To date, more than 1,600 children with kidney disorders have attended camp.

To mark this special occasion, the Ruth Gottscho Kidney Foundation is collecting reflections and memories about the program from current and former Frost Valley campers and staff. We would appreciate you sending us any personal experiences you or your campers may have had. Please email them to email@gottschokidney.org or judy.eichinger@gmail.com. Our regular mailing address is:

The Ruth Gottscho Kidney Foundation
515 Warwick Avenue
Teaneck, NJ 07666.

Please include your name, email (or regular) address and phone number. We look forward to hearing from you!

Best regards,

Judy Gottscho Eichinger
(Eva's daughter, Ruth’s sister, and Foundation Chair)

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For much, much more about our kidney program and the Gottscho Dialysis Center at Frost Valley, click here.

Eva and KK '08

Earlier I wrote about KK, a dialysis camper who has gotten deep into our hearts with her bravery and her total love of camp. Eva Gottscho's daughter, Judy Eichinger Gottscho, who I discover is a regular reader of this blog, is also a big KK fan, and just today sent me the wonderful photo below--taken in 2008--of her mom, the late Eva Gottscho--and our dear pal KK.

treated like a "regular kid"

Above is a portion of a recent Gottscho Kidney Founation brochure, featuring one of our favorites in the program: K.K. Alas, her health was not good this past summer, but she has had a number of really happy summers at Frost Valley before that, and we look forward to seeing her again in 2010.

Below is a photo of K.K. taken this past summer, which Dan Weir has just forwarded to me. You would be surprised too, no?

brave spokesperson

Dr. Bill Primack and Connie Giunta talk at the 1975 meeting of the Frost Valley Board of Trustees. This was the first summer of the dialysis program. Bill was the first head nephrologist of FV's unit. (He came from a hospital in Massachusetts to do the job, although our HQ was Einstein in the Bronx.) Connie, though shy, was willing to be a spokesperson for that first summer's campers dealing with renal failure. Earlier this summer, I had a chance to tell Connie's story briefly in a eulogy for Eva Gottscho.

the day we remembered Eva (more)

A few days ago I posted the audio recording of the memorial service we held for Eva Gottscho. Now I'm back with a few photos from the gathering. After the service we went to the dining hall for lunch. Several of the dialysis campers came to meet Eva's daughter Judy and to talk about their experiences at camp.
Eric Blum, often cited in this blog, who has been coming to FV since '86 and has intimately known the program Eva founded, also stopped by to meet Judy (we think for the first time, although that seems surprising).



Stuart Kaufer, dialysis unit staff (and eventually coordinator) from 1977 through '84, came up from NYC for the day, gave a talk about Eva and joined us for lunch. Stu was happy once again to reunite with Marie Hess.

memorializing Eva Gottscho

Yesterday we gathered in the Ketcham Chapel at Reflection Pond and spent an hour both sadly and happily remembering Eva Gottscho.

Regular readers of this blog need no introduction to Eva and her great impact here, but I will refer you to several earlier entries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

The following folks spoke at the service: Maya Doyle (of Montifiore Hospital), Maureen Eisele (nurse coordinator of our dialysis unit), Jerry Huncosky (FV CEO), Eva's daughter Judy Eichinger (now chairperson of the Gottscho Foundation board), Rick Kaskel (in absentia), and myself.

Click here for an audio recording of the service.

"we don't view this as work"

I talked with Rick Kaskel about the state of our dialysis/kidney program. If you haven't seen the inside of the new dialysis unit, take a good look. An amazingly spacious room, so so much better equippped than the old one (the addition to Smith Lodge).

Tomorrow the Ruth Carole Gottscho Kidney Foundation board of trustees makes their annual visit, except this time without their and our beloved chairwoman, Eva Gottscho, who, as readers of this blog know, died in June at the age of 96. We will hold a memorial service for Eva at the Ketcham Chapel at 11 am. Several folks long associated with the program will be on hand. I myself will say a few words - speaking about three campers from the early years of the program and Eva's impact on them and us.

rest in peace

Sat shiva this afternoon (along with Jerry Huncosky and others) at the home of Eva Gottscho. It happened that we were there with members of the Gottscho Kidney Foundation Board, so it was a bit of a reunion. Al Wickens, long-time leader of the Gottscho Board, was there with his wife Pat. Eva's daughter Judy showed me a painting of her sister Ruth, who died of kidney failure many, many years ago and whose early death gave Eva the impetus to do everything that she has done for kids with renal disease. Here are photos of the painting of Ruth and another shot of the same painting near a photo of Eva.

Eva Gottscho is dead at 96

For those of us whose time at Frost Valley overlapped with 1975 or postdated that year, we remember Eva Gottscho personally, one way or another. She was (with Halbe Brown and Ira Greifer) one of the three driving forces behind the creation of our dialysis program (for children with renal failure), and it was, to be sure, Eva's idea in the first place.

Now Eva has died at 96 years old.

Above & at right: Eva Gottscho, Halbe Brown, and Ira Greifer are shown cutting the ribbon at the dedication of the then-new dialysis center at Frost Valley in 1975. (At the far right is Dr. Bill Primack.)

Those who predate Eva's involvement with Frost Valley are surely not surprised to know (before this, I'm sure) that Wawayanda/Frost Valley was the one camp that took a chance at mainstreaming these children, whose medical needs scared off a lot of other camps before Eva found us and partnered with us.

Eva was stalwart and always sure that we were doing the right thing - even though she also never ever forgot the sadness associated with the illness and early death of her own daughter, Ruth Carole - after whom our dialysis center is named: The Ruth Carole Gottscho Kidney Dialysis Center at Frost Valley.

Funeral services are Friday (6/19/09) at Menorah Chapels at Millburn, 2950 Vauxhall Road, Vauxhall, NJ 07088 (908) 964-1500 (family will begin to receive friends at 10:45 am). The family will sit shiva at Eva's home, 7 West Beechcroft Road, Short Hills, NJ 07078, on Monday June 22 from 2 PM to 9 PM.

You can be SURE that Eva's family will greatly appreciate your cards and notes, sent to the Beechcroft Road address given just above. Please tell the family how much the dialysis program at Frost Valley means to you and to us, even if you yourself didn't know Eva personally.

You can listen to Eva's FV Hall of Fame acceptance speech by going
here.

You can read a summary of Eva's final summer visit to the dialysis unit last summer here.

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Stuart Kaufer

A little later, Stuart Kaufer (who was the coordinator of our dialysis unit for some years) wrote this remembrance:

"Besides Al’s messages I came home tonight to a message from Eva’s daughter Judy who told me that her mom had been ill for past several weeks, was pretty unaware of what was going on and that Judy was with Eva when she died. Much will be said about Eva in the next days and many of us will have our own memories. Besides her toughness and ability to conduct business, . . . Eva had a huge heart and soul. Her life was immeasurably changed when she was able to start the dialysis program at FV. It helped her preserve her daughter’s memory but, it also had a huge impact on Eva. We made such a big production of her visits each summer, special lunches, tributes, letters from the kids…but her most important moments at camp were when she was just talking to the kids on dialysis. I often thought she was amazed she made it possible, that Ruth’s dream of going to camp came true for so many kids each summer. When some of the kids wanted to stay for another 2-4 weeks Eva never said no. She simply said, send the bill.... A force of nature for sure but a soft touch and a tender heart. For that more than anything, she will be sorely missed."

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Rick & Phyllis Kaskel

Rick & Phyllis Kaskel sent us this statement: "It is with great fondness and appreciation that we remember Eva Gottscho in her passing. She was a visionary who shared her dreams for a camp that children and families challenged with chronic condition could one day enjoy the beauty and freedom of place such as Frost Valley. Through her efforts well over 1500 such children experienced life-long confidence building and encouragement fostered by the Frost Valley YMCA Ruth Carole Gottscho Chidlren's Dialysis Unit. Her heart was and remains in all that we are today and will only enable us to Build Strong as we continue with her dreams." (Rick is the Medical Director of Frost Valley's Summer Kidney Camp Program.)

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Jerry Huncosky

And Jerry Huncosky, Frost Valley's CEO, has written this:

This morning we lost a great friend and true advocate for children with kidney disease.

We all know the history of Ruth and Eva, but many did not know Eva and the wonderful life she lived giving back to the community and especially the children. Besides the millions she has spent on our dialysis program she has donated millions to Rutgers as well as supporting transportation costs for any dialysis patient who could not afford it.

Eva was a warrior when it came to providing for children. She never hesitated to pick up the phone and use her influence to help anybody in need.

Eva and I spoke nearly monthly for the past six years and visited each other several times a year. She always had a hug and kiss for me and always told me she loved me. During our last conversation, she called to talk about life. We talked about our families about God and about the beauty of life. I felt during that conversation it would be our last and I was right. She became ill shortly after.

I will miss Eva terribly as will Frost Valley. Mostly I will regret that so many children in coming years will not feel her powerful hugs and be warmed by her beautiful smile.

Heaven gained a wonderful person today. I imagine she is there now clinging to Ruth the way she would cling to all of her Frost Valley children.

God Bless you Eva and thank you.

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Peter Swain

I am so saddened to hear of Eva’s death. I felt many things about Eva over my years: at times she acted like my mother, at times a peer in camping, at times a shrewd business women. But she was always a humanitarian wanting to help kids with kidney failure.

When I was at FV, all of the remarkable efforts to help kids seemed practically routine. Now that I have left for other camping pastures, I realize with great clarity that the courageous giants that made it all happen were truly remarkable and unique, and Eva was one of this group.

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Lee Fleischer

I was sad to hear about Eva's passing, but grateful that I had the opportunity to finally meet her last fall at the dedication of the Wellness Center. I am glad that she had the opportunity to see the new dialysis center, and share her still very sharp wit with those of us there. In a public sense it was a lot like Philly's Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas getting to see and broadcast on the radio the Phillies world series win (in 1980 local radio broadcasts weren't allowed) 6 months prior to his death this spring. On a personal level, though, it is much deeper for me. As a 16 year-old L.I.T. in the summer of '75, I was fascinated by the 'new' dialysis unit at camp, and for the next five summers found my passion for a career in medicine as I had the opportunity to see first hand the impact of the science and art of healing, transforming lives in a very profound way in the wonderful setting that is Frost Valley. I will never forget the day, when as a counselor in Forest Village, we got the call that a matching kidney was found for one of my campers. It is not a stretch to say that I may not have had a stethoscope dangling around my neck a few hours ago today, had it not been for the vision and persistence of Eva Gottscho 34 years ago. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to tell her that, and give her my thanks a few moments before the ribbon-cutting ceremony last September. (Above: Lee and Eva chat during the September 2008 dedication of the new dialysis center.)

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Obituary published in the Newark Star Ledger.