Support Chris's Journey to Healing

Hi! My name is Delia Tramontina and I am a longtime friend of our beloved poet and scholar Chris Stroffolino. As some of you may know, Chris suffered a stroke on February 8th of this year. He spent some time in Highland Hospital, and was transferred to a skilled nursing facility on March 4th, which is where he is currently. Chris has received physical, occupational, and speech therapy and will continue to need this care after he is discharged from the skilled nursing facility. He is not currently at the level of functioning needed for him to return to his home, so he will soon be discharged to a independent living facility, where he can get some assistance with his everyday needs, and he can have therapists visit him. Independent living facilities are not covered by insurance, so he will be paying rent in two places while he is not working. It is not clear at this time how long he will have to be there, but he will likely continue to require assistance with his everyday needs when he returns home. This type of assistance is also not covered by insurance.

So far we know that Chris has copays from his stay in Highland Hospital. His insurance has stopped paying for his skilled nursing facility stay, so he is now paying out-of-pocket in addition to the copays he had accrued there. Also, the nurse practitioner who treated him at the skilled nursing facility is not covered by his insurance, so he has to pay for those visits out-of-pocket.

It is really upsetting to know that Chris, like so many others, has to be stressed with financial concerns when he is already dealing with a health crisis. It is not clear, in the end, exactly how much support Chris will need. He is at the beginning of his healing journey. It is our hope that he can pay his current bills, cover his living expenses while he is not working, and have some assurance that he can continue in his recovery knowing that money will not be a barrier to him accessing the care needed.

Thank you for your donation!