A Brother's Memory Lives on at Valley

3/30/21

When Barbara Bender's brother Jay was critically ill at The Valley Hospital, the family received special permission for Jay's dog to visit. "It meant the world to him at a very difficult time," Barbara says. "And the nurses were so taken by this—they saw the impact such a kind gesture by the administration had on the patient they were doing so much to care for."

Valley helped extend Jay's life for three and half years, and in gratitude Barbara is making a bequest in her will to The Valley Hospital Foundation in addition to a gift she has made to name the Critical Care Nurses' Station and two critical care patient rooms at The New Valley Hospital in Paramus in memory of her brother, Jay G. Bender.

"The bequest in my will is a way to give back to such a fine institution in our community so that others can benefit from it after I am gone," Barbara says. "Naming the nurses' station and the patient rooms is a way of saying thank you for the exceptional care my brother received."

Barbara grew up in Fair Lawn and graduated from Hofstra University. She is retired from a career providing pre-press technology to newspapers and commercial print shops. Married and with one stepson, Barbara lives in Bergen County and uses doctors affiliated with Valley.

"The overall quality of The Valley Hospital has always been excellent," she says. "All of the critical care staff—the nurses, doctors, and certified nursing assistants—give so much of themselves with razor-sharp focus and nonstop intensity to provide the ultimate in-patient care."

She urged others in the area to consider making a gift. "I would ask others to think about the care that Valley has provided them and their loved ones," she says, "and the impact their gift can have toward this amazing, new, state of-the-art hospital and on our community."