January 18, 2002

Anthony Kirvilaitis, Jr., of MGH Patient Care Services (PCS), died Jan. 14 after a long battle with cancer. Kirvilaitis worked at the MGH for 16 years. As a training coordinator in The Center for Clinical & Professional Development, he trained hundreds of support staff. He also was an ordained Roman Catholic priest and served as an on-call chaplain for the hospital.

A special Department of Nursing award will be established in his memory. According to Jeanette Ives Erickson, RN, MS, senior vice president of PCS and chief nurse, two awards will be given each year to nursing support staff who exhibit the values and characteristics that Kirvilaitis lived by. "We will miss Tony’s compassion, honesty, his commitment to patients and families, his coaching abilities, patience and sense of humor," she says. "I hope that celebrating Tony’s legacy in this way will keep his memory alive and will help all of us who knew him begin to heal."

The award will be called the Anthony Kirvilaitis Jr. Partnership in Caring Award. A memorial service is being planned.