Cynthia Kinsella - "A Career of Caring"

Cynthia Kinsella

Cynthia Kinsella understands hospitals. She has been involved with them since she attended Bellevue Nursing School after graduating from Hunter College in New York. Over the years, she has been a trailblazer in healthcare. The walls of her Indian River Estates villa are a testimony to her many accomplishments, lined with recognition plaques, proclamations and diplomas. And she continues to serve the healthcare community as an active member of the Governor's Council on Excellence in Long Term Care.

During her career, Cynthia was Director of Nursing at both Bellevue and Mount Sinai Hospitals in New York, the latter for which she developed a four-year baccalaureate program. Cynthia learned early on that having the best technology is the most important element to ensuring excellent healthcare. "Providing for the best healthcare available is my mission first and foremost," she explains when asked of her motivation in remembering the Indian River Medical Center Foundation in her estate plan.

Cynthia's late husband, John, who retired as Chief of Detectives of the New York Police Department, encouraged her throughout her career. When the two retired to Seal Cove, Maine, Cynthia became involved with Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor, a not-for-profit community hospital located in a small resort town – quite similar to IRMC. Fortunately for the hospital, Cynthia became a board member and brought her significant knowledge of healthcare and her infectious good humor to bear on the hospital's future vision. When cold winters convinced the Kinsellas to move south to Southold, Long Island, Cynthia again became involved with the local hospital, first as a board member, then as the Board Chairman of Eastern Long Island Hospital. She was pivotal in bringing the troubled hospital into the black. She now serves as an Honorary Trustee.

In 1996, Cynthia and John moved to Vero Beach and selected Indian River Estates as their home. Not long after their move here, Cynthia learned of the need for a volunteer program at the Medical Center at Indian River Estates. She established a visitation program and an extremely important hydration program. Realizing that the residents of Indian River Estates would benefit from a medical lecture series, she began scheduling local doctors to speak to her friends and neighbors with the help of the Indian River Medical Center Foundation.

Cynthia has experienced being a patient at Indian River Medical Center first hand and has been "treated royally," she says. A tall, elegant woman with a big smile and generous heart, she is ready to share her gifts with others. "Support of the hospital is returned to all of us in the services it provides to us when we need them," she explains. "For us to have these advantages, we must be supportive." Cynthia appreciates our Emergency Services wing and lauds its design. She is impressed with The Heart Center and its Duke affiliation, and understands from experience that the generosity of the private sector is critical to the future growth of the Indian River Medical Center. That is why she has chosen to be part of our future by providing for Indian River Medical Center Foundation in her estate plan. The Foundation is honored to be remembered in such a thoughtful way – one that will touch the lives of people in our community for generations to come.