divine mercy care

Tepeyac Family Center Continues to Gain Support

By Michael F. Flach
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the Issue of 11/9/06)

The Divine Mercy Care Gala last Saturday night at the Dulles Hilton Hotel had all the usual elements that make these events a success: good food, a beautiful setting, tempting auction items and a worthwhile cause.
But the one thing noticeably different at this gala was the sight of dozens of parents juggling their infant children on their shoulders and laps as they attempted to eat their dinner or bid on auction items.
The presence of the tiny, smiling faces was a true testimony to the success of the Tepeyac Family Center (TFC) and Divine Mercy Care. TFC was established in 1994 by Dr. John Bruchalski as a pro-life OB-GYN practice where “faith and good medicine work together.”
Bruchalski and his partners, Dr. Daniel Fisk and Dr. Marie Anderson, have garnered international attention in recent months thanks to a front-page story in The Washington Post on Aug. 31 that profiled the pro-life work being done at the center.
Film crews from “The Today Show,” as well and French and Russian television, have descended on the office. National Public Radio and EWTN have interviewed Bruchalski and Bob Laird, TFC’s executive director. Anderson was the keynote speaker at a recent Catholic Physicians Dinner in Phoenix.
“We have definitely found our market niche,” Bruchalski said. “Over the last two years, you here tonight have been so very generous, like the widow in tomorrow’s Gospel reading. We are so very thankful. Working with the new paradigm in medicine, recent management at the center coincided with this financial support has put our house in order without waste and without deviating from our mission.
“Now, tonight, the Tepeyac Family Center and Divine Mercy Care are beginning to mature and are poised to move outside our comfort zone, through the grace of God and your help,” he said.
“To affect the culture at large we needed to begin to get this message out, a conversation of conversion about bringing joy and wholeness back to the medical profession and those who practice this fine art and science,” Bruchalski said. “A conversation that is centered on practicing excellent medicine based on the dignity of the person; that conversation is beginning to take place.
“The future is now, with the grace of the Holy Spirit,” said Bruchalski, whose vision of the future involves an integrated health care facility that includes a birthing center, an outpatient surgical center and elderly care.
Tepeyac’s short-term goals include adding a fourth and fifth physician; a 30 percent increase in the crisis pregnancy program; the purchase of a 4-D sonogram machine; expansion of educational services; and expansion of the volunteer base.
“I do not know who will be generous to us this year,” Bruchalski said. “I know that we all want to help others see this new program for medicine, understand the order behind it, and then be able to experience this new vision for medicine and healing.
“As government and secularized medicine stumble from crisis to crash programs, lurching into the future without plan, without hope, without vision; you are helping us to work this plan with clarity, hope and with vision,” he said. “We are counting on you to help us stay focused on the Divine Physician and His merciful, healing heart, by seeing His crucified face in every person that enters our doors.”
The avalanche of media attention might explain why this year’s gala saw a sharp increase in attendance. More than 500 guests filled the hotel ballroom. Father Peter Nassetta, Catholic campus minister at George Mason University in Fairfax, served as the auctioneer.
The emotional highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Susan M. Torres Award. This award is given to a TFC patient “who has lived out the Gospel of Life and mystery of suffering in her own medical experience.” The award is named in honor of Susan M. Torres, a young mother who died while comatose in 2005 as she attempted to bring her child to viability.
Anderson presented this year’s award to Kirstin and Matt Page of Olney, Md.
“The medical staff of TFC unanimously chose Kirstin for this award because of her courageous fight for the life of her child against insurmountable odds,” Anderson said.
“At 13 weeks of pregnancy, Kirstin prematurely ruptured her membranes and lost her amniotic fluid. She failed to reseal and continued to leak throughout the rest of her pregnancy.
“Since very few babies survive this grave medical condition, several doctors recommended abortion,” Anderson said. “One even wrote in her medical record that her child had a ‘zero percent chance of viability.’”
But the Pages never gave up hope. Instead, they came to TFC where the staff carefully watched Kirstin for signs of infection and hospitalized her for the last five weeks of her pregnancy.
The birth of Joseph Page on Oct. 2 was truly a “one in a million medical phenomenon,” Anderson said. “He took a breath of air into lungs that were not expected to develop and let out his first cry.” Joseph is almost six weeks old now and is expected to go home from the hospital next week.
Readers interested in supporting the pro-life work at the Tepeyac Family Center can visit the Web site at www.tepeyacfamilycenter.com.