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Home » News » Richmond University Medical Center Sends Home 71-Year-Old COVID-19 Patient After 8 Week Battle

Richmond University Medical Center Sends Home 71-Year-Old COVID-19 Patient After 8 Week Battle

January 20, 2021

Gene Giliotti, 71, of New Dorp, Staten Island Discharged After Spending 5 Weeks On A Ventilator

January 20, 2021 – Richmond University Medical Center provided a warm send-off this afternoon to recovered COVID-19 patient Gene Giliotti, 71, of New Dorp, Staten Island. Giliotti was admitted to the hospital on Thanksgiving morning and spent nearly eight weeks fighting the virus, five weeks spent on a ventilator.

“We are ecstatic,” his wife Lorraine said. “He went from the worst, to eventually coming off a ventilator, to needing a tracheotomy so he can breathe, to finally coming home. It’s a miracle thanks to everyone on the staff at RUMC.”

Giliotti was taken to the hospital Thanksgiving morning by his wife because of complications from COVID-19. He was immediately placed in the hospital’s intensive care unit and was treated by a medical team led by Jay Nfonoyim, MD. Dr. Nfonoyim is RUMC’s Vice Chair of Medicine; Program Director, Internal Medicine; and Chief of Critical Care. Slowly, Giliotti made his recovery, finally having the strength to breathe on his own and being approved for discharged to a rehabilitation center in New Jersey where he will continue his recovery.

Giliotti has been a funeral director at Casey McCallum Rice Funeral Home on Staten Island for over 20 years. He will be continuing his recovery alongside his wife and his family which includes three children and two grandchildren. In May, he and his wife will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

“Miracles are happening every day in the midst of this pandemic,” chief operating officer and chief nurse officer, Rosemarie Stazzone said. “Gene’s determination to return to his family, his will to live, made today possible. His discharge today provided an emotional boost for our entire hospital and a fantastic way for his family to start the new year.”

Since last spring, RUMC has treated and discharged over 2,300 COVID-19 patients and also continues to assist recovering COVID-19 patients with their short-term and long-term healthcare needs through its comprehensive Post COVID-19 Care Center (PCCC).

For video of Giliotti’s discharge, click here.

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Richmond University Medical Center is a not-for-profit healthcare provider serving the ethnically diverse community of Staten Island and its neighbors. The medical center provides premier-quality patient care through a full spectrum of emergent, acute, primary, behavioral health and educational services. RUMC does this in an environment that promotes the highest satisfaction among patients, families, physicians and staff. For more information call 1-718-818-1234 or visit www.rumcsi.org. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.