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Hospice unit to be named for longtime Memorial employee

A new partnership between Niagara Hospice and the Schoellkopf Health Center will soon lead to the opening of a dedicated hospice unit on the Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center campus.

The new unit, to be located on the second floor of the Schoellkopf Health Center, will be named for David Winker, a beloved Memorial Medical Center employee who spent his final days surrounded by family members while being cared for at Niagara Hospice House.

David, who died May 5, had worked at Memorial since 1966 when he was hired as a dietary kitchen helper. He was promoted to senior attendant in 1970 and assigned as a dietary stores clerk in 1983.

David was well known by his colleagues at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center as a man who, except in the wintertime, rode his bicycle to work every day for nearly 47 years from his Town of Niagara residence. The unit will be named David’s Path, providing a fitting tribute to him and his love of riding.

“In a very real sense, the Memorial Medical Center family was David’s family. In the 47 years that he worked here, I don’t know that he ever missed a day until very recently,” Memorial President & CEO Joseph A. Ruffolo said. “David was one of those guys who everybody seemed to know and we all felt a very real sense of loss when we learned of his passing. Naming our new hospice unit for him is our way of saying how much he meant to us.”.

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