2012 NCH Annual Report - NCH Healthcare System

Excellence in healthcare is a common goal that NCH shares with medical institutions around
the globe. Medical doctors and technicians from different countries often align themselves
behind the notion that healthcare can be constantly improved. These healthcare “ambassadors”
often work with one another to advance medical practice by sharing knowledge, ideas, techniques
and treatments. The net effect is improved global healthcare practices and better outcomes for patients
around the world.
NCH is honored to have one such ambassador
right here in our own back yard—Dr. Janusz
Subczynski.
Born in Poland in 1928, Dr. Subczynski grew
up in a well respected family. His father was an
engineer. He attended private schools. Life was
good. That all ended when Hitler’s Germany
invaded Poland in 1939. His charmed life
became a waking nightmare lived on the run as
his family fled the horror spread by Nazi forces.
They escaped Warsaw and survived on their wits,
their ordeal so terrifying and compelling that Dr.
Subczynski wrote a book about it called In the
Shadow of Satan.
At the end of the war, the Subczynski family faced
new terrors as citizens of a Soviet satellite country.
Life behind the Iron Curtain was very difficult
for the young Dr. Subczynski. The freedom
he experienced as a boy had vanished. The
Communist Party controlled virtually all aspects
of Polish society. Dr. Subczynski found solace in
his studies, earning twin degrees as a Doctor of
Medicine and Master of Philosophy. Specializing
in neurosurgery, he graduated at the top of his
class but was blacklisted simply because he was
not a member of the Communist Party.
The next few years in Poland were particularly
harsh for Dr. Subczynski, though he finally
managed to beat the system and eventually
become a specialist of the Polish Board of
Neurosurgery. In 1961 he arrived in America with
just $6 in his pocket to be trained in stereotactic
surgery of the brain in New York under renowned
neurosurgeon Dr. Irving Cooper. Two years
later, Dr. Subczynski permanently immigrated to
the United States. He managed to smuggle his
parents to freedom some years later.
In America, Dr. Subczynski’s neurosurgical career
thrived. He obtained the title of Diplomate
of the American Board of Neurosurgery and
also became a Fellow of the American College
of Surgery. Over the next twenty-five years he
practiced in the Detroit area as an independent
neurosurgeon, finally becoming Chief of
Neurosurgery at St. John Hospital and Medical
Center. After that, Dr. Subczynski turned his
talents to teaching until he suffered a heart attack.
“The motive of my life
has been helping.”
Choosing retirement, Dr. Subczynski settled in
Marco Island in 1998, where he has spent his
time writing a total of four books and managing
the foundation he created
to oversee his philanthropic
efforts. As he began having
trouble with his heart once
more, Dr. Subczynski found his
way to NCH and cardiologist
Dr. Herman Spilker.
“He took care of me,”
remembered Dr. Subczynski.
“And, I am alive and functional
thanks to his appropriate care.”
To reflect his appreciation for the fine care he
received at NCH, Dr. Subczynski gave back,
setting up an endowment to benefit NCH’s
Naples Heart Institute.
“The motive of my life has been helping,” said Dr.
Subczynski. “I made money. I want this money
to be used properly and for a good purpose.”
Dr. Subczynski tagged his donation to specifically
benefit invasive cardiology. He feels that when a
person’s gift allows medical treatment modalities
and equipment to be modernized, it does more
than change the way a patient receives care. It
changes the person who gave the gift, by giving
him a new sense of meaning and purpose in his life.
“If they make a donation to the place of suffering—
they do something good. And, if they do
something good, it [will] be the best thing for them
because they will have a feeling of joy. When you
have that feeling, it’s very hard to describe. But it’s
a very happy feeling, a very right feeling.”
Dr. Subczynski and the NCH Healthcare
System share a mission to help those in need.
His wonderful gift and the support from our
community help us fulfill
that mutual goal.