Patient Stories

“There if you need it.” For Swampscott’s Jeffrey Brudnick, these words hold special meaning—both as the owner of a successful insurance business and as the recipient of life-saving care at North Shore Medical Center.

With a $500,000 gift to NSMC’s Best Care, Right Place campaign to support The Brudnick Breast Health Center at Salem Hospital, Brudnick and his wife, Susan, are helping to ensure that others on the North Shore have access to state-of-the-art care when they need it. The center offers access to a full range of screening capabilities, from digital mammogram to ultrasound and stereotactic needle biopsy, in a welcoming, patient-friendly environment.

“North Shore Medical Center has always had a presence in our family’s lives,” says Brudnick, who moved to Swampscott with Susan, a Salem native, in 1979. Their son Jonathan was born at the Birthplace at Salem Hospital, and their son Jason and daughter Jessica recuperated in the Special Care Nursery after being born prematurely. The children’s sports meant several trips to the Salem Hospital ER over the years, and Susan has received regular preventative care at the Breast Health Center. But it was Jeffrey’s coronary bypass surgery in 2006 that cemented the couple’s decision to give back to their local community hospital.

Originally scheduled to have surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, Brudnick decided to explore his options at NSMC after hearing glowing reviews of the care others had received through NSMC’s collaborative program with MGH. A tour of the NSMC Heart Center at Salem Hospital with cardiac surgeon Ann Toran, M.D. convinced him to stay local.

"Like many people, I thought I needed to go to Boston to get top-notch care," he recalls. "But after viewing the Salem facility and meeting the surgeons, I knew that NSMC was the place for me."

The success of his surgery, the smoothness of his recovery, and the ease for his family as he recuperated close to home underscored for Brudnick the value of having a health resource like NSMC on the North Shore. When it came time to make a gift to the Best Care, Right Place campaign, Susan’s longtime interest in women’s issues made the Breast Health Center a natural fit.

“Breast health is an essential part of overall wellness,” says Claudia Reynders, M.D., Chief of Breast Imaging at NSMC. “We are committed to providing our patients with the highest levels of expertise and technology, and we are fortunate to have state-of-the-art facilities in which to care for them.”

The Brudnick Breast Health Center is part of a continuum of coordinated breast care—from regular screenings to a wide array of advanced treatments including breast surgery and cancer care—that NSMC provides throughout its facilities in Salem, Danvers, Lynn and Peabody. Through their support of the center, the Brudnicks hope to raise awareness of NSMC’s world-class programs and services and inspire others to turn to NSMC for care.

"We have a jewel here on the North Shore," says Jeffrey. “This is not the old Salem Hospital—this is the new North Shore Medical Center.”